Overview
- Tourism Minister Celso Sabino said UN security staff delayed pressing fire alarm buttons when flames were first seen on Nov. 20 in the restricted Blue Zone.
- He argued a prohibited microwave should not have cleared UN X-ray screening and claimed a unit had been found and removed from a pavilion days earlier.
- Authorities in Pará cited suspicion of a microwave-related short circuit, but the federal police investigation has not issued conclusions.
- The blaze destroyed the East Africa Pavilion, was contained in about six minutes, and led to medical attention for 27 people for smoke inhalation or anxiety.
- UNFCCC reopened the area the same evening, observers called a Blue Zone fire unprecedented in 30 years of COPs, and Sabino faces party scrutiny at União Brasil’s Ethics Council.