Lightning struck the TV tower in Shenyang, Sunday night starting a fire about 40 to 60 meters up the tower. The fire began in the elevators and cables and took two hours to put out. No casualties were reported.
The bolt hit the TV tower at about six pm during a heavy downpour which followed an afternoon of rain in the Liaoning Province capital. Witnesses said that after a 40 centimeter fire ball rolled down the tower its lights and wireless signals went out.
As a result sources from local fire station said that firefighters had to climb the tower to put out the fire without the aid of electricity.
Built in the September of 1989, the 305 meter tower is popular with tourists and is an entertainment center.
The incident caused a breakdown in broadcasting. The cost of the damage is not yet known.
(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2002)
