Great fire of London, but Games are safe
Source: Agencies |
August 13, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FIREFIGHTERS were tackling a massive blaze at an east London recycling center yesterday, saying it was the biggest the city had seen in several years.
Olympic organizers said the fire - about 11 kilometers east of the Olympic Park - would have no effect on the Games' closing ceremony planned for the evening. By late yesterday, wind was blowing the smoke away from the park.
The London Fire Brigade said that the whole of a 50 by 100 meter, single story building was on fire and that, at one point, a plume of smoke could be seen across London.
"We've not seen a fire of this size in London for several years," Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said. "It's certainly a dramatic end to the Olympics for the London Fire Brigade."
More than 200 firefighters drawn from across the city were fighting the fire in Dagenham, an industrial, riverside area at the very edge of London.
The cause of the fire isn't yet known. No injuries have been reported.
As for the Games themselves, a sky-diving queen, smooching cyclists, a dangling mayor, and 150,000 condoms for the fittest people on the planet made up the wackier side of the London event. Some 10,500 athletes shared sport's most memorable moments with tears of joy from the winner's podium and grief after falling short at the climax of four years of gruelling effort. But there were laughs and gaffes aplenty.
Red-faced London officials were forced to apologize even before the opening ceremony for insulting the North Korean women's soccer team by raising the flag of South Korea ahead of a match against Colombia.
'Good evening, Mr Bond'
The Games began in earnest with an opening ceremony starring Britain's 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth appearing to skydive from a helicopter with James Bond. "Good evening, Mr Bond," was her only line in her film debut.
Presidential plaudits flowed for medal winners, though Colombia's first Olympic judo medal winner Yuri Alvear was less impressed when President Juan Manuel Santos rang her on the way to collect her medal.
"I told him I would call him back when the ceremony finished," Alvear laughed.
London's eccentric and loquacious Mayor Boris Johnson fell rather awkwardly silent last week when he got stuck dangling from a zip wire, waving two Union flags in the drizzling rain.
"Unlike Team GB, he won't be bagging any gold medals today," said a spokeswoman for the mayor after the incident.
There were moments of anger too. Thousands of people frustrated by a ticketing system which left many empty-handed were furious at TV coverage from events in the early stages of the Games showing rows of vacant seats from soccer to swimming.
Olympic chiefs urged youthful athletes ready to let rip after months of monastic dedication to drink "sensibly" once they hit the celebration trail.
But there was anything but restraint for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
Bolt dazzled dancers at a London night club with a turn in the DJ booth. "I am a legend," Bolt shouted to a packed dancefloor early yesterday with his arms raised in the air.
On the amorous front, athletes were looked after by London officials who provided 150,000 condoms.
Olympic organizers said the fire - about 11 kilometers east of the Olympic Park - would have no effect on the Games' closing ceremony planned for the evening. By late yesterday, wind was blowing the smoke away from the park.
The London Fire Brigade said that the whole of a 50 by 100 meter, single story building was on fire and that, at one point, a plume of smoke could be seen across London.
"We've not seen a fire of this size in London for several years," Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said. "It's certainly a dramatic end to the Olympics for the London Fire Brigade."
More than 200 firefighters drawn from across the city were fighting the fire in Dagenham, an industrial, riverside area at the very edge of London.
The cause of the fire isn't yet known. No injuries have been reported.
As for the Games themselves, a sky-diving queen, smooching cyclists, a dangling mayor, and 150,000 condoms for the fittest people on the planet made up the wackier side of the London event. Some 10,500 athletes shared sport's most memorable moments with tears of joy from the winner's podium and grief after falling short at the climax of four years of gruelling effort. But there were laughs and gaffes aplenty.
Red-faced London officials were forced to apologize even before the opening ceremony for insulting the North Korean women's soccer team by raising the flag of South Korea ahead of a match against Colombia.
'Good evening, Mr Bond'
The Games began in earnest with an opening ceremony starring Britain's 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth appearing to skydive from a helicopter with James Bond. "Good evening, Mr Bond," was her only line in her film debut.
Presidential plaudits flowed for medal winners, though Colombia's first Olympic judo medal winner Yuri Alvear was less impressed when President Juan Manuel Santos rang her on the way to collect her medal.
"I told him I would call him back when the ceremony finished," Alvear laughed.
London's eccentric and loquacious Mayor Boris Johnson fell rather awkwardly silent last week when he got stuck dangling from a zip wire, waving two Union flags in the drizzling rain.
"Unlike Team GB, he won't be bagging any gold medals today," said a spokeswoman for the mayor after the incident.
There were moments of anger too. Thousands of people frustrated by a ticketing system which left many empty-handed were furious at TV coverage from events in the early stages of the Games showing rows of vacant seats from soccer to swimming.
Olympic chiefs urged youthful athletes ready to let rip after months of monastic dedication to drink "sensibly" once they hit the celebration trail.
But there was anything but restraint for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
Bolt dazzled dancers at a London night club with a turn in the DJ booth. "I am a legend," Bolt shouted to a packed dancefloor early yesterday with his arms raised in the air.
On the amorous front, athletes were looked after by London officials who provided 150,000 condoms.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
