Major blaze at Berlin Philharmonic

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

BERLIN (AFP) — Firefighters battled to bring a major blaze under control at the Berlin Philharmonic on Tuesday that musicians and staff at the concert hall described as a disaster.

By early evening some 130 firemen were still on the scene at the famed home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in the heart of the German capital as smoke continued to escape from its sloped roof.

They had doused the building with water to prevent the fire spreading and used thermal image cameras to locate its source, ripping up sections of the roof where insulation material had caught fire.

Four hours after the blaze began, the fire department said it was too soon to say it was under control but were adamant that there was no risk that the building would burn down or collapse...