MCC awarded €6.7m following 25-year wait

The Mediterranean Conference Centre was yesterday awarded €6.7 million in damages after a court found a lighting company and the Government jointly liable for a fire that destroyed the main hall 25 years ago. Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi ruled that a powerful laser and inadequate safety measures caused the three-hour-long fire in the centre’s Republic Hall on March 25, 1987. The blaze broke out as Laser Point Limited was preparing a laser show which was to be the centrepiece of Daihatsu UK’s launch of its Charade car in Malta. The laser beam was focused on the Malta coat of arms above the stage curtain. At one point, the emblem began smouldering and, within minutes, the fire spread and destroyed the hall along with five brand new cars. No one was injured but the hall was gutted. Charles Bonello, the theatre manager, testified that smoke began emanating from the centre of the coat of arms “like a chimney”. Only a small part of the emblem was on fire at first but soon the whole thing was ablaze, he recalled. Chemical expert Alfred Vella told the court that, once focused on a point, the laser could cause a fire if the material reached ignition point. In this case, the power of the...