Fire in the cinema "Houdini"

In the cinema Houdini in Zurich Aussersihl on Tuesday morning, a fire broke out, which was deleted in the meantime. No one was injured. And there was a high damage of several hundred thousand francs. According to Jörg Wanzek, a spokesman for protection and rescue Zurich, a technical defect in the foreground of the investigation. "The cause of the fire is but clarified further in more detail."



Firefighters, municipal police and ambulance were in use. The Baden Street was closed off in the meantime between Kalkbreitestrasse and Seebahnstrasse. Tram lines 2 and 3 could not drive their regular route, there were spare buses in use. At 10 clock Badenerstrasse was reopened to traffic.

Above all, the bar is affected

According to Jörg Wanzek there were no casualties. We have about 40 residents of the new building of the cooperative Kalkbreite evacuated, where the cinema is located Houdini. All apartments and shops in the complex were investigated. The sanitary precaution had a tent set up for first aid, but this was fortunately not in use. According Wanzek Protection and Rescue Zurich were a total of 40 people are involved.

The damage in the cinema are significant: The fire raged especially in the bar area from where the fire originated, according to a release of protection and rescue. But the entrance area was badly damaged. The fire did not spread though out to the cinema halls. However, these were affected, according Wanzek from heavy smoke. Firefighters have borne a large part of the damaged facility outside. In the apartments, the fire did not penetrate. However, in the stairs and in many parts of the building, there was also a lot of smoke development. The residents may since Tuesday afternoon return to their homes, as Wanzek announced. Previously, they were housed in an opposite outbuilding.

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Firefighters dispose of charred interior of the cinema. (Ennio Leanza / Keystone)
Only since August 2014 in Operation

The cinema Houdini is opened year only six months ago and has since made ​​a name quickly . It is run by the Neugass cinema AG, which also operates the cinema Riffraff. The Houdini has five halls and shows mainly independent films. The theater is located in the new part of the cooperative Kalkbreite, which has also opened last August. The new building has offered alternative housing because of its architecture and received a lot of attention . For the operation concept of dense Complex includes the strong mixing of residential and commercial uses, in order to open the building complex also to the quarters out - the "Houdini" is the centerpiece of this strategy.