Monday evening just before midnight, when Chinese were celebrating the Lantern Festival, fire consumed a building in Beijing that formed part of Central China Television’s new headquarters. Initial investigation showed that the fire had been caused by illegal launches of firecrackers, said a spokesman with the Beijing Municipal Government. According to Shanghaiist, CCTV fire suspiciously absent from Chinese news!

The destroyed building housed the Mandarin Oriental hotel in eastern Beijing, which was supposed to open in May, 2009. It was also designed to include a theater, recording studios and cinemas, while CCTV’s main production and broadcasting units, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, were to occupy the main building next door.

Photo by REUTERS/China Daily