Firefighters battle large blaze at Latin America Memorial

(30 Nov 2013) Firefighters on Friday battled a blaze at a large auditorium at Sao Paulo's Latin America Memorial, a political, cultural and leisure complex designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer. Huge plumes of smoke billowed out of the building, as large numbers of firefighters struggled to put the fire out. Nine firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation, according to authorities. "The fire is under control but we have not reached the aftermath yet, we are still fighting it," firefighters' spokesman Mauro Lopes told reporters at the scene. "We have 55 cars in place, 38 operational vehicles and 88 firefighters working directly in fighting this fire," he added. Fire officials told reporters that the 1,600 seat Simon Bolivar auditorium was empty at the time. The full extent of the damage and the cause of the fire were not immediately known. The headquarters of the Latin American Parliament is part of the memorial. It was not damaged by the fire. The centre occupies an area of some 9,000 square feet (836 square metres) and was inaugurated in 1989 to promote the cultural, political, social and economic integration of Latin America. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...