Posted on 08/15/2007 4:19:40 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Fire breaks out at troubled Shanghai World Financial Center
SHANGHAI (XFN-ASIA) - A fire broke out today at what will be China's tallest skyscraper, dealing another setback to the long-troubled project, local fire officials said.
The fire, which hit the Shanghai World Financial Center in the late afternoon, was quickly put out and there were no casualties, a fire department supervisor surnamed Zheng told Agence France-Presse.
City officials and representatives of the project declined to offer further details pending a probe into the fire at the 101-storey tower, set to be 492 meters (1,614 feet) tall when completed early next year. A photo posted on a popular Chinese website earlier showed a large cloud of smoke wafting out of the skeletal upper reaches of the structure before it was put out.
The incident is just the latest blow for the troubled project, which has been dogged by delays and controversy since it was first begun in 1997, intended to be the world's tallest building.
It was shelved soon after due to the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and a massive property glut in the city.
It was resurrected in 2003 with plans for a six-star hotel, retail shops, a museum, observation deck and 70 floors of office space.
The price tag was set at 105 bln yen (910 mln usd at the time) and completion was targeted for 2008.
However, the delays cost the project its status as the world's tallest building.
That honor currently belongs to 508-metre Taipei 101 building, which will in turn be eclipsed next year by Dubai's 800-metre Burj Dubai tower.
Made in China.
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