The Mediterranean Conference Centre was yesterday awarded €6.7 million in damages after a court found a lighting company and the Government jointly liable for a fire that destroyed the main hall 25 years ago.

Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi ruled that a powerful laser and inadequate safety measures caused the three-hour-long fire in the centre’s Republic Hall on March 25, 1987.

The blaze broke out as Laser Point Limited was preparing a laser show which was to be the centrepiece of Daihatsu UK’s launch of its Charade car in Malta.

The laser beam was focused on the Malta coat of arms above the stage curtain. At one point, the emblem began smouldering and, within minutes, the fire spread and destroyed the hall along with five brand new cars. No one was injured but the hall was gutted.

Charles Bonello, the theatre manager, testified that smoke began emanating from the centre of the coat of arms “like a chimney”. Only a small part of the emblem was on fire at first but soon the whole thing was ablaze, he recalled.

Chemical expert Alfred Vella told the court that, once focused on a point, the laser could cause a fire if the material reached ignition point.

In this case, the power of the laser, 18 watts, was far stronger than what was normally used in entrainment establishments.

Prof. Vella said nothing but the laser could have caused the fire.

Maintenance worker VanniFarrugia testified that the water reservoir beneath the hall was regularly checked three to four times a week and the day before the fire he had inspected it to ensure that all was well.

Ralph Sillett, a Daihatsu employee, said the fire alarm failed to go off, while fire extinguishers failed and water failed to emerge from the pipes.

Court-appointed experts found that “there were no sufficient means for the fire to be controlled.

Primarily, this happened because there was no adequate firefighting equipment and, even worse, not enough people were trained in firefighting.

A safety curtain would have definitely separated the stage from the rest of the building.

“The firefighting equipment was poor... and inadequate to control the fire and stop it from spreading until the fire engines arrived,” they concluded.

When deciding on damages, Mr Justice Azzopardi said there was a “contributory element” in terms of the responsibility the Government had to shoulder.

The authorities, the court ruled, should pay €3.3 million to the centre with the rest being paid by Daihatsu UK Limited, since renamed MFPS Limited, and Laser Point Ltd.

Laser Point employee Andrew James Creighton was not found responsible for the incident.

Commenting after the decision, MCC chairman Peter Fenech said that he was relieved the case had finally come to a positive end.

“Although the MCC had been partly blamed, its responsibility was not related to the fire but, rather, to certain safety features that the court felt should have been in place and allegedly were not functioning,” Dr Fenech said.

He would not comment on such issues noting that the fire occurred before he was appointed chairman.

He said the funds the centre would be paid in damages would assist in further restoration of the building.

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