A raging fire swept through the upper levels of an empty, 32-story office building in downtown &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/society/2002/09/19/36867.html' target=_blank>Madrid early Sunday, causing no serious injuries but collapsing the top floors in a shower of flaming debris.
Bright orange flames shot out the sides of the Windsor Building, which is near one of Madrid's main boulevards.
The fire started around 11:30 p.m. Saturday and was still burning out of control several hours later. At least nine upper stories were on fire and muffled explosions could be heard in the building.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known, but &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/region/2003/01/10/41844.html' target=_blank>emergency services spokesman Javier Ayuso said it might have been a short circuit, informs the Guardian.
According to the ITV News, the smell of smoke spread through the north of the Spanish capital as hundreds of anxious neighbours packed streets around the burning building. Some onlookers and firemen had to be treated for &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/accidents/2001/03/27/3176.html' target=_blank>smoke inhalation.
"The fire is very big and we cannot save the building itself. Our focus is to prevent it from spreading," said Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, adding that an electrical short-circuit was the likely cause of the blaze.
The blaze was still raging out of control in the early hours of Sunday, having breached a fire wall on the 17th floor and reached almost to street level. Explosions could be heard within the building and authorities cordoned off a zone some 500 metres in diameter in case it should collapse.
JB
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