Employee Fireworks Set Beijing Building Ablaze

中国中央电视台称，其一名员工组织的烟花燃放导致央视新址大楼的配楼发生大火。火灾导致1人死亡，财产损失可能高达数千万美元。北京市消防部门说，这些烟花的破坏力很强，是周一晚间庆祝元宵节暨春节假期结束时非法燃放的。点击下图查看更多图片Jason Lee/Reuters图片：央视新总部配楼起火中央电视台周二发表声明说，该单位一名员工未经请示批准擅自雇用人员在有44层高的电视文化中心大楼的工地上违规燃放烟花酿成的。与央视标志性大楼相邻的这个文化中心在火灾中受损严重。中央电视台在声明中对给国家财产造成的严重损失表示道歉。由荷兰建筑师库哈斯(Rem Koolhaas)设计的这两座大楼均曾获得设计大奖，在去年8月的北京奥运会前给中国首都注入了新的形像。周二在现场的一位消防部门官员说，投资达8亿美元的央视主楼似乎并未受损。北京市官员在新闻发布会上说，业主单位的人不听民警劝阻执意燃放威力强大的烟花。政府一位发言人说，大火系业主单位所致，原因是其违规在建筑工地上燃放烟花。尚不清楚中央电视台目前面临怎样的保险责任。受损的大楼原定一部分用于五星级的文华东方(Mandarin Oriental International Ltd.)酒店。这座大楼由国有中国人民保险公司(People's Insurance Company of China Holdings Co.)承保了建筑工程险，到期日为2009年6月30日。中国人民保险公司在其网站上发表声明说，由于火灾现场因进行调查仍在封锁之中，目前还难以估计火灾造成的损失。文华东方在声明中表示，公司签署了管理这家酒店的长期协议，但对这座建筑不持有所有权。Mei Fong相关阅读央视新台址北配楼发生严重火灾 2009-02-10图片新闻精选：2009年2月10日 2009-02-10原声视频：央视新台址配楼严重火灾 2009-02-10图片报导：央视新总部配楼起火 2009-02-10图片：澳洲火灾伤亡惨重 2009-02-09 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年02月10日18:41', 'M04.SG'));文华东方英文名称：Mandarin Oriental International Ltd.总部地点：百慕大(Bermuda)上市地点：新加坡股票代码：MOIL


National broadcaster China Central Television said that a fireworks display organized by one of its own employees set off a blaze that destroyed a building adjacent to its iconic new headquarters in Beijing. The fire caused one death and tens of millions of dollars in damages.Fire authorities in Beijing said the fireworks were high-explosive devices that were set off illegally Monday evening during celebrations to mark the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.CCTV issued a statement Tuesday saying that one of its employees hired a company without authorization to let off fireworks in a compound that houses the 44-story Television Cultural Center building, which was gutted by the blaze, as well as the gigantic, Square CCTV tower just next door.In its broadcast statement, CCTV apologized for causing 'serious damage to the country's treasure,' referring to the two buildings that were part of an award-winning design by architect Rem Koolhaas that helped to transform the Beijing skyline ahead of the August Olympics.A fire department official on the scene on Wednesday said that the $800 million CCTV Tower appeared to be undamaged.Beijing officials told a news conference that the television broadcaster defied police warnings and set off the powerful rockets. 'The owner caused the fire because it violated regulations and set off fireworks at the construction site,' said government spokesman Zhu Xu.It is unclear what insurance liability CCTV now faces. The ravaged building, partly designated as a five-star flagship hotel for Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. (M04.SG), is insured by state-owned People's Insurance Company of China Holdings Co. under a construction risk plan due to expire on June 30, 2009.'As the site of the fire was still cordoned off for more investigations, it's still hard to estimate the loss caused by the fire,' PICC said in a statement posted on its company Web site. Mandarin Oriental said in a statement that the company signed a long-term contract to manage the hotel and has no ownership interest in the building. -By Mei Fong, Wall Street JournalMei Fong