(Bloomberg) -- Twenty fire engines and around 125 firefighters were deployed to put out a blaze at arts and culture venue Somerset House in London.
Part of the roof is on fire, according to an incident report on the London Fire Brigade’s website. The cause of the blaze isn’t yet known.
“Somerset House is currently closed due to a fire which has broken out in one small part of the building,” Somerset House said in a post on X Saturday afternoon. “All staff and public are safe.”
The fire brigade said it received the first call about the blaze at 11:59 a.m. local time.
Jonathan Reekie, head of the Somerset House Trust, told the BBC the site was evacuated after the fire was spotted in the west wing. No valuable artefacts or artworks were housed in that part of the building, he told the broadcaster.
Somerset House, located on the banks of the Thames, dates from the 1500s. It was once the residence of Queen Elizabeth I before she was crowned and houses works from masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Edouard Manet.
(Updates with more details.)
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