CNN
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Denmark’s old stock exchange was engulfed in a massive fire on Tuesday morning, with video from the scene showing flames ripping violently through the historic building in the center of the capital.
The Børsen building has been at the heart of Danish business since the 17th century.
Footage showed huge plumes of black smoke billowing from the Copenhagen landmark as emergency responders worked below.
Stunned commuters and onlookers watched as the raging fire could be seen swirling around the building’s distinctive 56-meter spire – shaped as the tail of four entwined dragons – moments before it collapsed and fell into the street below.
Copenhagen police have told people to avoid the area and there have been no reported injuries so far.
People were in the building when the fire started but they were all evacuated, said a police spokesperson who added that military personnel were at the scene to support fire-fighting efforts.
The old stock exchange – located only a few minutes walk from Christiansborg Palace – dates back to 1625. It was built in the Dutch Renaissance style at the request of King Christian IV and had recently been undergoing renovations with its facade covered in scaffolding and protective coverings.
Denmark’s culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said 400 years of cultural heritage had been damaged.
“How touching it is to see how the employees at Børsen, good people from the emergency services and passers-by work together to rescue art treasures and iconic images from the burning building,” he added in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce, which is based in the building, described the scene as “a terrible sight.”
Emergency services were working to control the fire but it had spread to all floors through the elevator shaft.
Frank Trier Mikkelsen, operations manager at the Greater Copenhagen fire department, said the fire is burning “violently” inside the building, according to TV 2, a government-owned TV channel.
Forty firefighters were inside the building, with valuables being rescued, TV 2 reported.
Mikkelsen told the Danish broadcaster that the fire is of a type that emergency managers dread, explaining parts of the building’s roof need to be removed to extinguish it.
He added machines have been called in to remove some of the copper roof, as the water just bounces off it.
This is a developing story and will be updated.