High-rise apartment block in Milan destroyed by fire
30 August 2021, 08:54
A spokesman for Italy’s Interior Ministry said it appeared the rapid spread of the flames was due to the cladding on the building.
Firefighters worked through the night to extinguish a blaze that destroyed a 20-storey apartment building in Milan, but said there was no indication that anyone was missing inside.
Some cases of smoke inhalation were reported from Sunday’s blaze, but no serious injuries or deaths.
The fire was reported by a resident on the 15th floor, who sounded the alarm as he descended the building telling other occupants to evacuate.
Residents of the building included Italian rapper Mahmood, who was the 2019 winner of the San Remo music festival.
Residents said the blaze quickly spread through the cladding on the facade, which was supposed to have been fire-resistant, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.
Carlo Sibia, an Interior Ministry official in Rome, said: “The cause of the fire still needs to be determined, but it seems that the rapid spread of the flames was due to the thermal covering of the building.”
Mayor Giuseppe Sala, who visited the scene, said he saw firefighters’ hands burned from battling the blaze.
Firefighters broke through doors apartment by apartment in the search for anyone left inside and followed up by telephoning residents who remained unaccounted for.
“There is no evidence of anyone missing,” said commander Felice Iraca.
Firefighters were continuing searches of the building and verifying damage to the structure. Prosecutors were also investigating for any indication of wrongdoing.
The nearly 200ft (60m) tall building, part of a 2012 development project, was designed to look like the keel of a ship and included an aluminium sail on its roof, which burned and fell to the street in pieces.
