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100 apartments evacuated after fire in western Sweden

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
100 apartments evacuated after fire in western Sweden
Firefighters fight the blaze in Skövde. Photo: Adam Ihse / TT

Around 100 apartments were evacuated late on Wednesday night after a large fire broke out in Skövde, western Sweden.

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"There's a fire in two buildings; we are working to make sure it doesn't spread," said Daniele Coen, who was in charge of the emergency efforts at the scene.

The fire started in an apartment and then spread via the roof to a separate building. 

By 6am on Thursday, a full seven hours after the fire first broke out, it was still burning.

"It's burning in the roof, in the attic, but there's no immediate risk of the fire spreading to the apartments," said Coen.

However, he said that the work to extinguish the fire was expected to take a long time. "We will continue the whole day, and probably also during the coming night," he said.

Photo: Adam Ihse / TT

Residents living in three four-storey buildings have been evacuated, and a gym at a nearby school was opened for them to use.

A team of around 40 firefighters was working to extinguish the flames.

It is not yet clear exactly how the fire started, but no people have yet been reported as injured as a result. The fire has not spread to any other apartments except for the one where the fire started, and there the flames have been extinguished.

However, all the apartments in the two buildings affected by the fire have been damaged by the smoke and it may take several days before all the inhabitants are allowed to return home.

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