KUWAIT CITY // Flames ripped through Kuwait’s new opera house yesterday, just three months after the futuristic US$770 million (Dh2.8bn) venue opened to the public.
The blaze started during maintenance work on the building’s titanium roof, the Kuwaiti fire department said on Twitter.
It said the fire was put out and caused no injuries.
Parts of the roof were seen to be missing after the blaze but it was unclear if that was the result of the maintenance work or the fire.
Earlier, television footage had shown a thick plume of black smoke rising from the waterfront Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre.
Firefighters on a crane sprayed water on to the building – a structure covered with geometric Islamic patterns located in the heart of the capital.
The centre was launched in October with a performance at the 2,000-seat opera house by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway musical Cats had been due to open there on Thursday, according to the centre’s website.
* Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
