Fire Breaks Out at COP28 Climate summit, Disrupting Negotiations
Belém, Brazil – A fire erupted at the COP28 climate summit in Belém, Brazil today, sending delegates scrambling for safety and temporarily halting negotiations. Dramatic scenes unfolded as flames tore through the roof of the conference center, a converted former aerodrome, prompting a full evacuation of the venue.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene. Dr.Harshita Umesh, a medical doctor presenting at the summit, recounted to BBC News how the fire rapidly spread, “It was climbing the walls and onto the ceiling. People were screaming.” Dr. Umesh herself tripped during the evacuation.
While initial reports indicate no burn injuries, emergency responders are treating individuals for smoke inhalation. “Mainly people with smoke inhalation,someone with a lung injury from smoke,” reported Kimberly Humphrey,an emergency medicine specialist assisting at the COP medical center. First responders themselves are utilizing oxygen masks after inhaling “toxic fumes,” according to Dr. Umesh.
BBC Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt described a “huge panic” as UN security personnel directed attendees to evacuate. “People have been running out of here, it’s a very dramatic moment,” he reported, noting that while firefighters appear to be gaining control, “huge columns of smoke” continue to rise from a large hole burned through the conference center’s roof.
Brazilian authorities have taken over security of the site, with a security officer seen locking the gates as the evacuation proceeded. Ambulances arrived on the scene over 90 minutes after the fire began, and one woman was seen being assisted into a wheelchair, though a connection to the fire remains unconfirmed.
The disruption is expected to delay the closing of a deal at the crucial climate talks, where nearly 200 countries are gathered to address the escalating climate crisis. Delegates from the UK
