A fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday at the headquarters of Liberty Bank in Tbilisi. The Interior Ministry has announced a criminal investigation into the incident.
According to the bank, the fire broke out in the shaft of a service elevator, but emergency services managed to detect and contain it at an early stage, and no one was injured.
‘The fire did not spread to the office spaces. The facade on the left side of the building was damaged’, the bank’s Tuesday morning statement read, adding that the area is physically separated from the rest of the building and ‘does not pose a threat to its operational functioning’.
‘Services will continue without disruption’, the bank said.
According to the Interior Ministry, the fire was reported late at night, after which firefighters arrived at the scene ‘in the shortest possible time’.
‘There was a risk of the fire spreading to other areas, but firefighters managed to extinguish it in a timely manner’, the ministry said.
Speaking about the possible cause of the fire, the ministry noted that renovation works were underway on one of the building’s floors, during which welding equipment was being used.
‘Presumably, sparks generated by the welding equipment caused the ignition, which then spread to other floors’, the ministry stated, noting however that police are working on ‘all other possible versions’ of what may have caused the fire.
An investigation has been launched into the incident under the article concerning damage to or destruction of another person’s property.
Liberty is the third-largest bank in Georgia.
