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This is a disaster for the UT
Yesterday a fire raged through the TW/RC building. The part housing the
computer and network facilities of the university has been destroyed
completely causing their complete break-down. There are no casualties.
Material damages, however, amount to tens of millions of euro's. Both the
A and D wing (which housed WMW, Communication Studies, Mathematics and the
Centre for Information Services) of the TW/RC building are considered to
have been lost. All centrally operated computer and network facilities
will be unavailable for several days.
Enschede's and Hengelo's fire departments arrived at the scene quickly and
the UT crisis team was formed immediately, headed by rector Van Vught. All
employees and students present in the building managed to get out safely.
The fire spread very quickly, so fire workers concentrated on restricting
damages. As yet, the cause of the fire is unknown. Technical investigators
will look into it and investigate the possibility of the fire having been
started. This may take some time. Building manager Simonetti confirmed
that the day before yesterday, two small fires in the building had been
extinguished. He does not eliminate the possibility that these may have
been connected to yesterday's fire. Measuring proved no harmful gas or
other substances were released. During the recent renovation all asbestos
was removed. The B and C wing (a.o. Public Administration & Public Policy)
have been saved. The major problem is that all computer and
networkfacilities were located in the D wing. "The network should be
operational again as soon as possible," said Van Vught. "We do not yet
know how long this will take, but it will certainly take a few days." He
does not expect the UT to have lost much data. A back-up was made this
weekend. |
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