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FIRE

Three Germans killed in Italian Riviera yacht blaze

Three Germans died after a yacht harboured on the Italian Riviera was destroyed by a fire early on Thursday, according to Italian media reports.

Published: 29 December 2016 10:08 CET
Updated: 29 December 2016 12:34 CET
Three Germans killed in Italian Riviera yacht blaze
The blaze happened at Marina di Loano, in Liguria. Photo: Luca Enrico Photography

Four people of German nationality were on board the yacht, which was moored at Marina di Loano, a leisure port located near Finale Ligure on the stretch of coastline between Genoa and the French border.

Three died and one 51-year-old woman, who managed to get out and jump into the water, was saved, Il Secolo XIX reported.

She was taken to hospital in a state of shock but otherwise not seriously injured.

Her partner and another couple were reported to have been trapped in the cabin. Several media said the woman who had died was the survivor's sister.

The local fire service said on Twitter that three bodies had been found on the boat.

Firefighters were called to the blaze around 6:00am (0500 GMT). 

The Ansa news agency said on its website that the yacht was a 22-metre Maiora model sailing under a German flag and the name Southern Comfort. It had been moored at the Marina for a year.

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FIRE

Why have there been so many fires in Copenhagen this year?

Thursday’s fire at Denmark’s tax ministry follows a blaze at the historic Old Stock Exchange and several fires at the headquarters of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

Published: 27 June 2024 15:11 CEST
Why have there been so many fires in Copenhagen this year?

A fire broke out on Thursday morning on the roof of the building which houses Denmark’s Tax Ministry in central Copenhagen, which fire services in the capital were able to put out shortly afterwards.

The Tax Ministry fire is at least the fifth high-profile blaze in and around Copenhagen since April, following three at different buildings owned by pharma giant Novo Nordisk and the devastating fire which turned parts of the historic Old Stock Exchange (Børsen) to rubble.

The high number of fires occurring within a relatively short period appears to be down to no more than chance, Jens Kastvig, an expert with the Danish Society of Engineers said to newswire Ritzau.

“There’s always a risk that a fire can break out in a building,” Kastvig said, noting that the average annual fire rate is around one per 100,000 to 150,000 square metre of building.

“That could be anything from a smaller to a larger fire,” he said.

Kastvig said that he initially guessed the Tax Ministry fire was the result of renovation work.

Both Børsen and the Novo Nordisk buldings were also undergoing renovations at the time of their fires. This increases the risk of fire breaking out in a more flammable material such as bitumen waterproofing, or a fire otherwise related to the ongoing work.

No renovations were ongoing at the Tax Ministry however, the building’s owner ATP Ejendomme has confirmed.

“The fire services are busy at the moment. But I hope it’s a coincidence,” Kastvig said.

Tim Ole Sørensen of the Copenhagen Fire Service, Hovedstadens Beredskab, said on Thursday that there was no suggestion that the fires were related.

“There’s nothing that indicates any form of connection at all to us, and we are talking about very different businesses and types of building,” he said.

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