Updated 12.08 p.m.

A court this morning found the organisers of a car launch liable for half the damages caused when a fire broke out at the Mediterranean Conference Centre 25 years ago, reducing it to ruins.

The ruins of the Republic Hall after the inferno 25 years ago.

However the government was also found liable for half of the damages - totalling  €6.7 million - because of inadequate safety measures to cope with such a situation.

The judgement was delivered by Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi.

The court said it had been established that a laser beam was concentrated on one spot on the curtain of the stage at Repubic Hall for far too long, causing the fire. However the operator of the laser beam, Andrew Creighton was found not liable.

The court ordered that half of the damages €6,730,006.99 be paid by Daihatsu UK – now called  MFPS Ltd, and Laser Point Ltd as the provider of the laser equipment.

The remainder is to be borne by the governemnt since it had been established that the conference centre  was not adequately equipped for fire safety.  

The fire, on March 25, 1987, started at about 6pm and raged for three hours, causing the roof of Republic Hall to collapse. No one was injured. 

The blaze began when a laser beam that was meant to have been used in a show by Daihatsu UK to launch five sports cars set the stage curtain on fire.