Tue, November 11, 2008
JINAN, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Firemen put out a fire engulfing an indoor stadium under construction in east China's Shandong Province on Tuesday.
The stadium caught fire at around 11:30 a.m. and was extinguished at about 3:00 p.m., firefighters said.
More than 200 firemen and 44 fire engines fought the blaze.
No casualties were reported.
Waterproof materials on the roof caught fire first and the blaze spread to an area of about 1,000 square meters of the stadium in the eastern suburbs of Jinan, the provincial capital, according to initial investigation.
Workers at the site said construction of the stadium, part of the Olympic Sports Center -- a sporting complex that is being built for next year's National Games, was almost completed and would undergo quality examination soon.
Either circuit problems or electric welding errors might have triggered the fire, which could suspend the project for at least two months, workers said.
This is already the second fire at the site in four months. The same stadium caught fire on July 27, in a blaze which lasted for four hours. No death or injury was caused but the flames spread to about 3,000 square meters of the structure.
Investigators said sparks sprinkling out during welding were to blame for the previous fire.
Jinan will host the 11th National Games, China's biggest sporting event, next year. The four-yearly event was held last time in Nanjing, eastern Jiangsu Province, in 2005.
