Fire engulfs Denmark’s historic stock exchange building, iconic spire collapses

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.