A major fire in the heart of Glasgow crippled Scottish train services on Monday as firefighters worked to douse the blaze that destroyed a four-storey building next to Scotland’s busiest railway station.
Glasgow Central Station was closed and all travel to, from and through the station was expected to be disrupted, according to rail operators. It was not clear when the station would reopen, but it was expected to remain closed for a further day on Tuesday.
The fire broke out Sunday afternoon in a vape shop on Union Street, next to the station. Flames engulfed the building, filling the frames of windows and shooting from the dome-capped roof.
Most of the building, which dates to 1851, collapsed as it burned through the night, leaving only the facade standing.
Paul Sweeney, a member of the Scottish Parliament, likened it to the remains left after the Nazi bombing of Britain in 1940–41.
“It’s been completely wiped out, destroyed,” Sweeney told the BBC. “The building is a gutted shell. It looks like something out of the Blitz.”
