Employees trapped by smoke
A fire at the Delisi Business Centre in Tbilisi forced Georgian broadcaster Formula TV to suspend its broadcasting. The fire broke out on the fourth and fifth floors of the building. Formula TV operates on the 17th and 18th floors. Heavy smoke in the stairwells prevented several employees from leaving the building after the fire started. Irakli Kiknavelidze, the host of the Day programme, interrupted a live broadcast to report the emergency situation. "We are in an emergency situation. There is smoke in our building," Kiknavelidze said. Journalist and presenter Nino Zhizhilashvili also used her Facebook account to appeal to emergency services for assistance, reporting that some members of the team could not get out because smoke in the building blocked the stairwells. "We have suspended broadcasting. Some members of our team are unable to get out because of the smoke," Zhizhilashvili wrote. Because the fire broke out on the fourth and fifth floors, the heavy smoke in the stairwells prevented the staff on the 17th and 18th floors from exiting the building.
| Building Level | Status |
|---|---|
| 4th and 5th floors | Fire location |
| 17th and 18th floors | Formula TV offices |
Emergency response and evacuation
The Emergency Management Service conducted firefighting and evacuation operations at the Delisi Business Centre. The agency told OC Media that firefighting and evacuation operations were underway. The Emergency Management Service declined to provide further details during the initial response. The Emergency Management Service later told OC Media that fire crews extinguished the fire and successfully evacuated all employees from the building. No one sustained injuries during the evacuation. The cause of the fire and the circumstances of where and how the fire broke out remain unknown. Because the fire started on the fourth and fifth floors, the smoke in the stairwells prevented the staff on the 17th and 18th floors from exiting the building without assistance.
