Turkey, Jan 24: A fire tore through a former Ottoman mansion next to the Bosporus in Istanbul for hours on Tuesday, badly damaging the historic building before firefighters brought it under control.
No one was injured in the blaze at the building, which has been used by a Turkish university.
As the flames raged, firefighters had to use fire-extinguishing boats to hose the 140-year-old wooden structure from the waterway, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The building was one of several mansions built as annexes to an Ottoman palace, but is now part of the prestigious Galatasaray University.
There were no students inside the building at the time of the fire and all staff members were safely evacuated.
"The roof (of the building) was completely destroyed in this fire. The floor below the roof was partially damaged. There's no significant damage to the other two floors so in a way that's a consolation," said Istanbul's governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu.
Citing firefighters, Mutlu said the likely cause of the fire was an electrical fault.
