Skopje Theatre Fire Under Control

The roof of the building had been on fire for more than an hour | Photo by: Balkan Insight

Local media report that nobody was injured in the fire that started shortly before 1 pm local time.

Seven fire-fighting vehicles were at the scene as flames and thick smoke rose from the roof of the building, which is part of a big revamp project dubbed Skopje 2014 and includes about 15 grand buildings and numerous statues in the centre of the capital.

The new theatre building is on the bank of the river Vardar next to the Museum of the Macedonian struggle which was opened amid celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Macedonia's independence from Yugoslavia on September 8.

The building is still under construction.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski as well as the Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska Milevska and Skopje Mayor Koce Trajanovski arrived at the scene before firefighters contained the fire.

"The investigation about the cause of the fire is ongoing. We know that the fire broke out [and was contained] in the wooden construction above the multimedia hall so we believe the damage will be insignificant” said Borjanka Serafimovic, a supervisor of the theater construction site.

Macedonia invested about 20 million euros in the new building. It is set to be open in mid 2012.