Plumes of smoke are seen after a fire broke out at an office building belonging to Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk in Bagsvaerd near Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 22, 2024. Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP
Copenhagen: Firefighters battling a large fire on Wednesday at an office building belonging to Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk, maker of weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, said it was under control after several hours.
The blaze, initially described as a "massive fire" involving 100 firefighters, was after more than three hours "under control and we have gone down to about 30 firefighters," fire brigade chief of operations Martin Smith told AFP.
Everyone had been evacuated from the building and there were no injuries, he said.
Large plumes of grey smoke could initially be seen 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the fire in Bagsvaerd, in the northern part of greater Copenhagen, Danish news agency Ritzau reported.
"Now it's just pockets of smoke," Smith told AFP, adding that bulldozers and cranes were being called in to "clear the debris and finish the job".
Novo Nordisk said in a statement the smoke was not toxic.
"A fire broke out today outside a building at Novo Nordisk's site in Bagsvaerd, and it has spread to an adjacent office building," it said.
"The smoke is not toxic, and there are no injuries," it added.
Smith said the blaze broke out in a container at a Novo Nordisk construction site, and spread to the roof of its adjacent office building.
He expected firefighters to continue working for four to six more hours.
The fire came less than a week after a blaze erupted on May 16 at another Novo Nordisk site under construction in Kalundborg, which had no impact on its drugs production.
