Fire outbreak disrupts COP30 in Brazil

Fire outbreak disrupts COP30 in Brazil

Timothy Ngnenbe 2 minutes read

The 30th Conference of Parties (COP30) underway in the Brazilian city of Belem was disrupted and the day's activities ended abruptly on Thursday following a stampede that occurred due to fire outbreak at the conference grounds.

Graphic Online’s Timothy Ngnenbe reports from the scene at Belem in Brazil that the fire outbreak reportedly started at the China Pavilion located in the Blue Zone and spread quickly to other pavilions, including that of Africa. 

All meetings and negotiations at the conference were immediately suspended as the fire and security details at the conference worked to ensure that every delegate was evacuated through the exit at the Green Zone, which hosted most of the high-profile sessions. 

The stampede left thousands of delegates at the conference running for their lives.

The volunteers at the conference ground pitched camps at vantage points to offer water to the fleeing delegates to quench their thirst.

Even after most of delegates were safely evacuated, they had to walk for about an hour to pick COP30 branded buses to various locations.

Implications 

The incident left COP30 in limbo as it was not immediately clear if the last day (November 21) was going to come off.

The situation put the conclusion of negotiations in limbo, especially so when there were writings on the wall that negotiators may require extension beyond the normal time frame to iron out thorny issues and arrive at decisions for climate action.

Graphic Online gathered that from negotiators that entrenched positions had been taken by the various blocs and it was creating tense moments in the meeting rooms.

Read also: COP30 resumes after fire outbreak 


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