Serious Fire Breaks Out Near Red Square...the Manezh Exhibition Hall

[SoCalDem]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-russia-fire,0,734027.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines


Serious Fire Breaks Out Near Red Square


AP Top News at 1:36 p.m. EST



By Associated Press

March 14, 2004, 1:46 PM EST


MOSCOW -- A serious fire broke out Sunday night in an exhibition hall off Red Square, just minutes after polls closed in Russia's presidential election.

City fire officials said the blaze was ranked five, the most serious category.

The colonnaded 18th-century building known as the Manezh, an equestrian training hall, is a stone's throw from the Kremlin. It is used for frequent exhibitions and trade fairs and is considered one of Moscow's most precious historic monuments.

Emergency officials said they had no information on what caused the fire, which appeared to have started on the intricately designed roof.

[ps1074]

1. watching it on Euronews live

No word of what caused it yet but the fire is huge.

[SoCalDem]

2. No one reported any explosion...but

You are right.. It's enormous..

[JI7]

3. yeah, i saw that on cnn also

hopefully it's just an accidental fire .but it was pretty big.

[proud patriot]

4. Bummer

It's an ancient building :-(

[SoCalDem]

6. Did they identify which building??

On CNN it was too hard to see what was actually on fire, since it was behind red square..

[bobthedrummer]

5. BBC is reporting it as a fire in an exhibition building near the Kremlin

[SoCalDem]

7. edited.. put link in original.n/t...deleted

.

[AlFrankenFan]

8. Forgive me but I see it on Faux...

BTW Vladimir Putin wins re-election.

[zwielicht]

9. the fire broke out exactly at the moment when putins victory was announced

20.000 sqare feet under fire, right next to the kremlin..

[nostamj]

10. still burning fiercely

and the entire roof has collapsed.

reporting that fire began on the roof.

no one suggesting anything other than coincidence... yet.

[MuseRider]

11. A beautiful old building

this is too bad. I've been there, it is such a shame to lose old buildings like that. ANy clues as to what happened?

[zwielicht]

12. some pictures

latest: 2 firemen were killed when a part of the root collapsed. RIP.

first speculations say a short-circuit could have caused the fire - which would be a very strange coincidence (it broke out nearly exactly when the polls closed)