US & Canada

Firefighters battle huge Los Angeles blaze

  • 8 December 2014
Los Angeles city firefighters battle a massive fire at a seven-storey downtown apartment complex under construction in Los Angeles, California 8 December 2014 Image copyright Reuters
Image caption The massive fire engulfed a building under construction

A huge fire has destroyed an apartment building under construction in central Los Angeles, shutting two major cross-city freeways.

More than 250 firefighters tackled the overnight blaze in the downtown area, which was brought under control early on Monday.

There were no reports of injuries, and it is not thought anyone was in the seven-storey building at the time.

Image copyright AP
Image caption There were no reports of any injuries or deaths

The fire could be seen from miles away, but no cause has been identified.

"It's a large building, about a block long. The whole building is a total loss. The fire did spread into two neighbouring buildings," said fire department spokesman David Ortiz.

Sections on the 110 and 101 freeways remained closed on Monday morning.

Image copyright AP
Image caption People using social media reported seeing the fire from miles away
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Media captionThe huge fire at a construction site in Los Angeles was filmed by people in the city

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