A fire that was quickly controlled occurred on Thursday, November 20, at location 30e global climate conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, which was evacuated on orders from security officials. Firefighters intervened quickly and the fire was extinguished, announced, minutes after the evacuation, Brazil’s Tourism Minister, Celso Sabino, on Brazilian television, adding that there were no injuries.
This is the third serious incident since the start of a UN conference launched last week in this Brazilian Amazon city. The previous two cases were related to indigenous protests.
Although almost the entire COP site was set up under large tents, a fire broke out at the state stand near the entrance, and smoke spread in and out of the venue, triggering panic, according to journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) who were present at the location. Tens of thousands of COP participants were evacuated. Some of the roofs in this area caught fire.
“important moment”
Several people with fire extinguishers in hand tried their best to put out the fire, which quickly spread to the fragile structure in the room located in the “blue zone” of the COP30 site, where the talks were taking place, according to video consulted by AFP. “A number of patients experienced smoke inhalation and needed oxygen so they had to be taken to hospital, and (There is) people who are experiencing emotional distress and shock we stabilize before moving them to the hospital”Kimberly Humphrey, an emergency medicine specialist, who participated in the COP with Doctors for the Environment Australia, told AFP.
The site will not reopen before 8 p.m. (midnight in Paris), said UN Climate, reporting “limited damage”. The cause of the incident is still unknown. The Brazilian Minister said “maybe short circuit, phone charging”. A participant present at the time of the fire reported to AFP that no alarms had sounded when the fire first broke out, and several people present at COP30 reported that the electrical wiring system had caused problems in recent days. AFP also recorded water leaks after heavy tropical rain.
The difficult negotiations will conclude on Friday evening, but the conflict raises serious uncertainty about the outcome. “This will delay the process” while it is “important moment” Or “we have to make a decision”Windyo Laksono, an Indonesian delegate, told AFP outside the site.
