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00:00Billowing smoke above the London skyline after a fire broke out in the roof of Somerset House,
00:05located next to the River Thames.
00:08It's a historic building, which is home to a series of major art collections.
00:13Tourists and passers-by were left astonished.
00:16We were coming back from the other side of the river and realised that white-grey smoke
00:20was coming from the building.
00:22They're worried really, you know, obviously it's sad so I don't know what the extent of
00:27the damage is and how long it's going to take to repair it.
00:30These buildings around here are iconic, historic and, you know, tourists come to see them and
00:35don't want to see it wrecked.
00:37Staff and visitors were immediately evacuated.
00:41Somerset House is renowned for its collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings,
00:46including this masterpiece by Manet and this famous self-portrait by Van Gogh.
00:51Fortunately none were damaged as the fire broke out in a wing of the building that houses
00:55offices and does not contain works of art.
00:59Around 125 firefighters were called to bring the blaze under control.
01:04The cause of the fire is under investigation.