18 Jul 2012

Building fire in Istanbul

9:15 am on 18 July 2012

Fire broke out in a 42-storey building in the centre of the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday.

Television footage showed the Polat Tower building engulfed in black plumes of smoke with pieces of debris falling to the ground.

Firefighters later managed to contain the blaze.

Officials said hundreds of people were safely evacuated and no-one was injured.

The building houses shops, apartments and offices.

Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying that a faulty air conditioner may have caused the fire.