NEWS: 56 Story Building Burns in Caracas Venezuela

16 upper floors of a 56 story office tower in Caracas Venezuela have been burning since midnight. The office tower houses government ministries and state agencies.



Fortunately the fire occured on a weekend and no injuries or deaths have been reported at this time. The area near the building has been evacuated due to concerns the tower may collapse.

Related News Links:
www.alertnet.org
www.cbc.ca
quote.bloomberg.com




[edit on 17-10-2004 by Phoenix]

I think this fire is very suspicious, starting on the 34th-floor offices
belonging to Ministry of Infrastructure.
Good thing no one was in there.

Makes me wonder if the Ministry of Elections was in this building - anyone know?
If it was it would be a nice way of losing evidence of fraud in the recent election would it not?

I wonder if this is related to the protests that occured yesterday.

Opponent s Of Venezuelan President Chavez Clash With Metropolitan Police


CARACAS, VENEZUELA: Metropolitan police members disperse opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a demonstration, 16 October 2004 in Caracas. The opposition called for a protest in demand of a purge of the electoral register so as to give transparency to regional elections next 31 October.

[edit on 17-10-2004 by AceOfBase]

Hey at least we can compare this to the twin towers and see if this building collapses like TT's did.

This would show everyone how buildings react when they are on fire from the top of the building!

Originally posted by markjaxson
Hey at least we can compare this to the twin towers and see if this building collapses like TT's did.

This would show everyone how buildings react when they are on fire from the top of the building!

Interesting thought but one componet is missing, jet fuel - the fire is not as hot and the steel framing probably is of the more traditional layout of having internal columns rather than an exo-skeleton as the twin towers had (floor connections failed at core and exterior)

"There is a problem because the building is made of steel. Because of the high temperatures, the structure could collapse," Information Minister Jesse Chacon told President Hugo Chavez during his weekly radio and television show.

Seattle Post

Another view of the building,
Looks like the fire is no where near as intense as it was earlier.


This is the building before the fire, looking from a position 90 degrees to the right.





[edit on 17-10-2004 by Phoenix]

"There is a problem because the building is made of steel. Because of the high temperatures, the structure could collapse," Interior Minister Jesse Chacon told President Hugo Chavez during his weekly radio and television show. "

And the building had no fire extinguishers, imagine a building of that height and no fire extinguishers.
There's a big violation!

www.cbc.ca...

.
Isn't it interesting that highrises burn for hours and hours over many many floors, but never collapse. Yet both WTC towers fell after less than 2 hours. And WTC7 collapsed after about 8 hours.

I guess those WTC buildings just weren't very well built.
.

Originally posted by markjaxson
Hey at least we can compare this to the twin towers and see if this building collapses like TT's did.

This would show everyone how buildings react when they are on fire from the top of the building!

Well now of course they will get in there and drape up some plastic charges.

Oh this is the "popular" revolt against chavez... more spin to get us to think he is an unpopular dictator when he is in fact the first NON-WHITE president of the country and was fairly elected.
Washington is trying every dirty trick in the book on him, even going so far to try to come up with some new ones but the lack of imagination hampers theat effort slightly.

Edit: making it clear what im reffering to

This was more about the photos posted by aceofbase than the burning building.

[edit on 20/10/2004 by Corinthas]

Chavez is helping the poor more than he is helping the rich. That's the whole deal why they are so angry with him.