A bit of heads up just in case...
It's not just the Middle-East that's not very safe ... European countries are full of disasters this summer due to weather which exhausts the workers and may lead to accidents...
Fire, explosions at electrical substation send smoke over downtown Madrid
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Explosions and a major fire at an electrical substation Thursday sent flames and acrid black smoke over downtown Madrid, and then foul-smelling, inky soot fell back to earth.
Firefighters sprayed water in powerful jets on the flames, while police evacuated nearby buildings and streets. No one was reported injured. An electricity outage swept through some downtown neighbourhoods, but within minutes power was restored to most except for the touristy area surrounding the blaze. The area includes museums, restaurants and Atocha train station.
"First, the lights went out" shortly after 1:30 p.m., said photographer Francisco Rubio, 47, standing on the broad tree-lined Paseo del Prado. "Then I saw the flames. Then I heard one explosion. About 10 minutes later, another. They were quite big."
The cause was not immediately identified by authorities. But a worker who had been installing generators for the private electrical utility Union Fenosa at the substation said they exploded when they were turned on.
"There were three generators" on the ground floor, Manuel Escalera Gonzalez told The Associated Press. He was in the basement when he heard three explosions.
"If we would have been on the ground floor, it would have killed us," he said.
Police cordoned off nearby streets and evacuated buildings threatened by the dense smoke, hot flames and possibly the presence of a nearby gas station that might be at risk if the fire spread.
© The Canadian Press, 2004