Fire erupts in Zaha Hadid Building in Beirut

A fire broke out today morning (Tuesday) in Zaha Hadid’s, British-Iraqi architect, building in Downtown Beirut. The building, designed by Hadid is considered one her latest works before she passed away in 2016.

Noting that Beirut is still recovering from port blast, and that two other huge fires have occurred in the capital Beirut during the last two weeks, today’s fire also created panic among people who were in the region, as firefighters were doing their best to extinguish the fire.No injuries reported and it was not immediately clear what caused the fire in the building.

It is said that the cost of this unfinished building is to reach 40 million dollars, and it is an under-construction department store located in the northern part of the Beirut souks, in central Beirut's commercial district.

Immediately, videos and photos of the fire went viral on social media, with hashtags such as #prayforlebanon and #wakeuppeople.

Zaha has worked on several projects in Lebanon, and the first one was Issam Fares Institute built at the American university on Beirut. Opinions about the building varied but it was definitely distinctive.