Fire Intensifies at TV Tower, Moves Lower

Frantic efforts continued Monday to contain a fire that broke out at the local Ostankino TV tower Sunday afternoon amid reports that several people remain missing in the world's second tallest freestanding structure.

The fire, allegedly caused by a short circuit, has moved to lower sections of the 540-meter tower. Intense heat and smoke have driven firefighters to the height of 104 meters, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Meanwhile, more than 50 steel ropes that keep the TV tower in a vertical position have collapsed, but there is no official confirmation that the structure is tilted, strengthening fears that the tower itself might collapse.

All civilians are being evacuated from the area with a radius of 500 meters from the 33-year-old structure, one of Moscow's tourist attractions, Interfax said.

All major TV channels and many radio broadcast were knocked off the air in Moscow and the greater Moscow region. Some paging services and mobile communications have also stopped functioning.

TV signals are still available through satellite transmission in the provinces, Russian media said.

The Itar-Tass news agency said two policemen and several employees of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information have failed to contact their units since the outbreak of fire at 15:20 local time (1120 GMT) Sunday.

One officer and two soldiers of the fire reconnaissance section also remain unaccounted for since their last communication with the command at 18:00 local time (1400 GMT) Sunday, Tass said, quoting an officer at the fire-fighting headquarters.

The fire, which broke out at a height of 475 meters, have engulfed the upper sections of the tower and moved lower. Firefighters are working at the height of 162 meters and the intensive burning has been liquidated, Tass said.

To fill the information void created by the fire, the Itar-Tass news agency started to provide what it described as open access to all its information from its web site.

President Vladimir Putin summoned Minister of Communications Leonid Reiman to the Kremlin Sunday and discussed the possibility of using reserve channels to restore the TV broadcasting and secure uninterrupted work of communication facilities, ambulance service, the Interior Ministry and other services, the Kremlin press service said.

The fire was allegedly caused by a short circuit at the transmitter of a paging company, but the authorities have not ruled out the possibility of sabotage.

After the outbreak of the fire, Moscow police received an anonymous call that said a bomb had planted in the TV tower and that it would explode shortly, Interfax reported, quoting a source with law enforcement agencies.

The Ostankino TV and BC center, inaugurated in November 1967, is the second tallest freestanding building in the world, just after the TV tower in Toronto, Canada.

Weighing more than 55,000 tons, the structure is 540 meters tall. Visitors can reach the observation deck at 337 meters in 58 seconds by the elevator.

There are three dining rooms below the observation deck.



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