In this frame from video provided by Catherine Ellis, flames engulf the pavilion at the COP30 United Nations climate summit in Belem, Brazil, on Thursday.
Katherine Ellis/AP
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Katherine Ellis/AP
BELEM, Brazil – A fire broke out briefly inside pavilions being used for U.N. climate talks in Brazil, forcing evacuations Thursday, the next-to-last day of the conference, and officials said 13 people were treated for smoke inhalation.
Organizers said the fire was brought under control in about six minutes. Fire officials ordered the entire site evacuated for the conference, known as COP30, and it was unclear when talks would resume.
Brazil’s Tourism Minister Celso Sabino told reporters at the scene that the fire broke out near the China Pavilion, one of several set up for events on the sidelines of the climate talks.
The fire quickly spread to neighboring pavilions, said Samuel Rubin, one of the people in charge of the entertainment and culture pavilion. Nearby pavilions include several Africa pavilions and one aimed at youth, he said.
The video shows huge flames engulfing a pavilion, which are reinforced canvas or fabric structures that usually have three walls and a floor.
Para state Governor Helder Barbalho told local news outlet G1 that the fire could have been caused by a generator failure or a short circuit in the booth.
By the time the conference began most of the summit venue in Belém was still under construction, with exposed beams, exposed plywood floors and metal mesh corridors leading nowhere outside the conference centre. During the pre-summit event, drilling and jackhammering could be heard as world leaders gave speeches and scores of workers in hardhats scurried around unfinished pavilions covered in plastic.
A security officer directs people to leave the venue for the COP30 UN climate summit in Belem, Brazil, on Thursday.
Fernando Llano/AP
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Fernando Llano/AP
Gabby Andrade, a COP30 volunteer from the host city of Belém, said she has been working on accreditation at the conference for the past three weeks. Thursday was her first free afternoon and she was exploring the Singapore Pavilion after the lunch break when the fire broke out.
He said he saw black smoke. When she started screaming and shouting “Fire”, a security guard grabbed her hand and showed her the way out.
Under the shock of the situation, she was worried what it would mean for Brazilian prestige hosting the talks. “It’s very sad for us,” she said. “We all worked very hard.”