A floor of the presidential palace in Liberia's capital caught fire on Wednesday, the blaze coming as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hosted the leaders of Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone for celebrations marking the anniversary of her country's founding by freed American slaves.
The leaders were escorted out of the building by security personnel and were unharmed, presidential spokesman Cyrus Badio said. The heads of state included Ghanaian President John Kufuor, Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and Sierra Leonean President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.
Firefighters put out the blaze in the six-story Executive Mansion. No damage was visible from the outside.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the blaze, which struck the fourth floor, where Sirleaf's office was located, Badio said.
Earlier, Sirleaf had been joined by Kufuor to switch on streetlights in eastern Monrovia as a part of independence celebrations. Running water was also turned on in parts of the capital to mark independence, the first time such municipal services had been available in Monrovia since civil war ended three years ago.
Engineers had water flowing to 30 percent of war-shattered Monrovia and generator-powered street lights on one road, a major leap toward getting basic services running, but short of an oft-heard campaign promise made by Sirleaf, who was inaugurated in January pledging to restore electricity to the capital in six months' time.
"I just want to say how proud we are," Sirleaf said late on Tuesday of the new waterworks, noting that the installation was done by an all-Liberian crew.
Monrovia has not had running water in 15 years.
The city's water treatment plant was destroyed during years of fighting that began in 1989. Since then, people have relied on wells, hand-pumps and bottled water.
Now residents can get running water in their homes or water from 23 pipes that will be placed throughout the city, officials said. The water system, launched after extensive reparations on underground pipes, will meet 30 percent of the city's demands.
The water meets WHO standards, officials said.
Street lights were damaged in the city as well during the war and repaired at various times. They were functioning on some Monrovia roads until 2003, when advancing rebels shelled the capital during fighting that forced ex-president Charles Taylor from office.
Residents in Monrovia have long relied on generators, candles and lanterns after dark.
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