A fire broke out on Tuesday at Denmark’s 400-year-old historic stock exchange building, engulfing its iconic dragon-tail spire which collapsed onto the roof.
The cause of the fire at one of Copenhagen’s oldest buildings was not immediately clear. There were no reports of any injuries, Reuters reported, citing police.
Videos and images from the scene on Tuesday morning showed a violent fire engulfing the stock exchange building, or Boersen, which had been undergoing renovation work.
Crowds of people gathered in the Danish capital as black smoke billowed from the building and emergency services worked to tackle the blaze. Some were seen carrying large paintings in an attempt to save the artefacts from the fire.
The incident comes almost exactly five years after a mammoth fire ravaged the Notre-Dame Cathedral in the French capital of Paris, which sent shockwaves across the globe on April 15, 2019.
Denmark’s Deputy Prime Minister Troels Lund Poulsen described the fire as the Scandinavian country’s own “Notre Dame moment.”
“Terrible pictures from the Stock Exchange. So sad,” Poulsen said via social media platform X, according to a Google translation. “An iconic building that means a lot to all of us, I think.”
A popular tourist attraction noted for its distinctive 56-meter (184 feet) tall spire, the 17th century building no longer houses the Danish stock exchange. It now serves as the headquarters of the Danish Chamber of Commerce and is situated next to Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament.
Denmark’s Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt lamented what he described as “400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames,” according to translated remarks published via X on Tuesday.
He added that it was “touching” to experience how employees at the building, as well as emergency services and local residents, had worked together to try to save iconic images and art treasures from the burning building.
Copenhagen Police said via social media that Danish Royal Guard soldiers were poised to assist with the rescue of valuables.
— CNBC’s George Bextor contributed to this report.
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