Fire engulfs Cote d'Ivoire treasury

Fire engulfs Cote d'Ivoire treasury

Flames rip through country's finance ministry building amid political standoff in country.
Last Modified: 08 Feb 2011 17:35 GMT
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Several floors of Cote d'Ivoire's finance ministry building were gutted and untold numbers of financial records destroyed after a fire broke out at the multi-storied office.

Flames reportedly tore through the building at around 1200GMT on Tuesday, when many employees were on their lunch break.

"We went to eat and people called us to say that our building was on fire," treasury worker Aicha Kone, one among the hundreds watching the blaze in the country's largest city, Abidjan, said.

The fire engulfed five floors of the building before being brought under control by firefighters.

Fire and rescue officials refused to speculate on the cause of the fire, which comes as incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo - who refused to step down after UN-ratified results showed he lost November's presidential election to Alassane Ouattara - is facing increased economic pressures, as international sanctions begin to bite.

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