The fire at the Copenhagen historical stock exchange is still not completely extinguished

Copenhagen - Half of the historic stock exchange building in Copenhagen completely burned down on Tuesday, leaving only the exterior walls. The Renaissance structure also lost its famous tower, which was a symbol of the Danish capital. This was reported today by the Reuters agency, citing Danish authorities. According to them, the fire had still not been extinguished in some hard-to-reach places.

About half of the 400-year-old building, built in the style of Dutch Renaissance, was managed to be saved. However, this part also suffered heavy damage as firefighters doused it intensively with water.

According to Frank Trier Mikkelsen, a representative of the Copenhagen fire department, only an empty shell with exterior walls remains from the second half of the old stock exchange. "Everything that made up the individual floors, all internal structural components have turned to ashes," Mikkelsen stated.

Thanks to the firefighters and random passersby, some valuable historical items, including large paintings, were successfully rescued from the building. "Thousands of items remained inside, but in my opinion, the most important ones have been saved," said Brian Mikkelsen, head of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, which currently owns the building.

In the rubble, firefighters are still finding "smoldering pockets" and anticipate that firefighting efforts will last at least until Thursday morning.

According to the AP agency, the head of the chamber, Mikkelsen, assured today that the destroyed building will be restored "come what may" and that the chamber leadership supports this. However, it has not yet been decided who will undertake the reconstruction. The project will cost millions, if not billions, of Danish crowns; cautious estimates suggest that the restoration could take ten years, AP reported. The Danish crown is worth about 3.4 Czech crowns.

"This morning at six o'clock, I met one firefighter who gave me this - the spire of the stock exchange," Mikkelsen told Reuters, showing the ornate metal tip of the turret that collapsed during the fire. "This gives me hope because we have decided to restore the stock exchange, as it is part of Europe's history as a trading continent," Mikkelsen added.