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| On the 18th (local time) during the rehearsal of the inauguration ceremony of the next US President Joe Biden, a fire occurred and the Washington DC Capitol was temporarily blocked. © AFP=News1 |
On the 18th (local time), during the rehearsal of the inauguration ceremony of the next US President Joe Biden, a fire broke out, the Washington DC Capitol was temporarily blocked, and lawmakers were evacuated. Biden-elect did not attend the rehearsal that day.
According to Reuters, a fire broke out in a nearby homeless camp during a rehearsal held at the Capitol in the morning of Biden’s inauguration on the 20th.
The fire was later found to have been caused by an explosion of propane gas, but many people who thought the violence had occurred had to be evacuated in terror, USA Today said.
Those who had gathered for rehearsals were instructed to “go inside” and “this is not training”.
Lawmakers and members of the Capitol were also alerted to “Stay away from the window. If you’re outside, hide.”
After about an hour, the blockade of the Capitol was lifted, and rehearsals, which had been suspended for a while, were resumed.
The Capitol Police said in a statement that “a small fire occurred near the Capitol and was extinguished,” and “the Capitol was temporarily closed in case of an emergency.”
The White House Secret Service explained that “there is no threat to the public.” The Washington DC fire department said on Twitter, “We extinguished the fire that occurred near the Capitol Hill,” and that “there were no injuries.”
The fire occurred on the 6th, after protesters supporting President Donald Trump broke into Congress on the 6th, and a large number of national guards, police, and federal agents were deployed throughout the city to provide strict security.
In particular, as concerns over armed protests grew ahead of the inauguration ceremony of Biden-elect, access to the downtown area of Washington DC was blocked at the source, such as the closing of the subway stations around the White House and the Capitol. On the day of the inauguration ceremony, it is known that 25,000 national defense forces will be deployed.