The headquarters of the EU's executive European Commission in Brussels has been evacuated due to a fire.
Eight fire engines are at the scene and smoke can be seen billowing from the roof of the Berlaymont building.
A fire brigade official said the fire appeared to have started in the basement of the building. The official had no information on any casualties.
No one at the Commission was available for comment.
A Brussels fire department official said the blaze had started in a structure sitting atop the Berlaymont that housed cables, electrical wires and other technical apparatus.
An official at the scene told staff to go home for the day and to check by phone the following morning whether the building would be open. Police and fire authorities were investigating the blaze, the official said.
Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said he had heard of no casualties and that the evacuation "went well, calmly, quietly." He said he did not know how many people had been in the building, called the Berlaymont, when the blaze broke out.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia and Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes were escorted out by security staff and police.
"There's black smoke coming out the top (of the building). It looks like it's maybe under control, there's less smoke than there was a few minutes ago," another Commission spokesman, Joseph Hennon, said earlier.
Agencies