Shanghai World Financial Center on fire

Shanghai World Financial Center on fire

By Yang Lifei and Li Xinran 2007-8-14

A fire breaks out on one of the top floors of the under construction Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong New Area today. Smoke can be seen from several blocks away even though the city was blanketed in a thick haze. The cause of the blaze is not yet known.

A FIRE broke out on one of the top floors of the under construction Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong New Area today.

Smoke can be seen from several blocks away even though the city was blanketed in a thick haze.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known.

At 492 meters the skyscraper will replace the 421-meter Jinmao Tower, also in Shanghai, as the tallest building on the mainland when it is completed next year.

The most distinctive feature in the design of the building is a trapezoidal hole at the top of the building. There will be an observation deck on the 100th floor of the 101-story tower.

The building's Website updated its latest height at 445 meters or 97 stories. Work on the hole at the top has already begun.

The building is designed to be a mixed use skyscraper which will consist of office spaces, hotel rooms, conference rooms, observation decks and shops on the ground floors. The hotel component will open with 175 rooms and suites in mid-2008 as the Park Hyatt Shanghai.