Owner says Denmark's treasured stock exchange will be rebuilt after fire
World
Owner says Denmark's treasured stock exchange will be rebuilt after fire
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Old Stock Exchange will be rebuilt after the devastating fire that destroyed half the building and damaged the rest, the owner of the Copenhagen landmark said on Wednesday.
Tuesday's blaze that ripped through the 400-year-old building, toppling its spire in a scene reminiscent of the 2019 fire at Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, was still burning in some hard-to-access places more than 24 hours later.
As the flaming spire slammed into the ground, its ornamented metal tip that had sat 52 metres (179 feet) above street level was recovered and will eventually resume its rightful place, said the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which owns the building.
"At six o'clock this morning I met a fireman who gave me this...the top of the stock exchange," Chamber CEO Brian Mikkelsen told Reuters, holding the metal piece in the air.
"It gives me hope because we have decided to rebuild the stock exchange because it's part of European history as a trading continent," he said.
Mikkelsen declined to comment on the building's insurance policy. The building no longer houses the stock exchange but serves as the Chamber of Commerce headquarters.
A smell of burning hung in the air on Wednesday while fire fighters on a crane flushed water down into the building through the collapsed roof as smoke still rose from the debris.
Britain's inflation rate slowed by less than expected in March.
A bouquet of sunflowers had been laid in front of the building, which had been undergoing extensive restoration when the fire broke out.
Police investigating the incident said it could take months to determine the cause. No one was hurt in the blaze.
Roughly half the Dutch Renaissance-style building was saved, although massive damage still occurred as fire fighters had drenched it in water.
"Everything that was once part of the storey partitions and building structures inside has been burnt away," Copenhagen fire department Operations Chief Frank Trier Mikkelsen told Reuters, referring to the part of the building worst hit.
