Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Firefighters put out a fire Tuesday that damaged the facade of the Zaha Hadid-designed shopping center being built in Beirut.
The fire broke out at a Beirut Souks building near completion in downtown Beirut designed by the late renowned British-Iraqi architect Hadid. The blaze ripped down external walls of the under-construction department store, and damaged a corner of the latticed roof.
It mainly damaged the facade structure of the five-level building facing the Hilton hotel.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to initial reports.
The Lebanese Civil Defense announced that the fire is under control and has caused no injuries.
The project includes a completed southern part, Souks Core and Jewelry Souk, and a northern part, where a cinema complex has been finished. A larger annex for sporting games, a five-level department store, and facility for retail, serviced apartments and a rooftop restaurant is still being finished.
Hadid, who died of a heart attack at age 65, in 2016, previously worked on the famed Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut. She was also the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, and received Britain's most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in 2010 and 2011.
The fire at the Beirut Souks building located near the port marks the third blaze in seven days in the capital city still recovering from the Aug. 4 port explosion that killed more than 190, wounded 6,000, left 300,000 homeless and destroyed 40% of the city.
The Aug. 4 explosion was triggered when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the Beirut port for seven years detonated. Investigation into the explosion continues amid economic crisis, public anger toward the government and mass protests.
On Thursday, another large fire broke out at a facility in the port that burned thousands of food parcels being stored, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, but firefighters were able to bring it under control. It was the second fire after a smaller blaze a couple days earlier. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said sabotage, a technical error or negligence could all be causes.
