UNITED KINGDOM/FILE: London's historic Cutty Sark tea clipper badly damaged by fire
- 00:00:03
- ITN Source
UNITED KINGDOM/FILE: London's historic Cutty Sark tea clipper badly damaged by fire
The fire that engulfed the historic Cutty Sark sailing ship in London may have been started deliberately, police say. A fire that engulfed the historic Cutty Sark sailing ship, causing millions of pounds in damage, may have been started deliberately, police said on Monday (May 21, 2007) The London landmark, the last surviving 19th century tea clipper, was severely damaged in the blaze. "We would treat all fires of this size and scale as suspicious, especially with it being such an historic and important site," said Inspector Bruce Middlemiss of Greenwich Police. Police were checking security camera footage and have appealed for witnesses. The fire broke out 4:45 a.m. (0345 GMT) and quickly spread through the timber and iron ship. Flames and thick black smoke shot high into the sky above the dry dock on the banks of the River Thames where the vessels has stood for more than 50 years. Forty firefighters brought the blaze under control. Aerial television pictures showed a mass of charred timbers on the deck of the boat that was once one of the world's fastest ships. No one was injured. The Cutty Sark swapped the high seas for a concrete dry dock in Greenwich where it became a major tourist attraction. The ship, launched in 1869 on Scotland's River Clyde to make the run to China for the lucrative tea trade, was undergoing a 25-million-pound (49 million U.S. dollar) refurbishment. Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, the body overseeing the renovation work, said Britain had lost part of its history. Half the ship's timbers had been removed for renovation before the fire. The figurehead, masts and ship's wheel were not damaged. Originally designed to last just 30 years, the ship is a rare construction with a wrought iron frame clad in timber. Built for the tea trade, she was switched to fetching wool from Australia to feed England's mills, regularly recording the fastest time for the voyage from Australia to Britain. In 1885, she managed a record-breaking 72 days via Cape Horn.
ITN Source | May 21, 2007
