Mystery figures seen in burning skyscraper video

MADRID - Amateur video purporting to show the silhouettes of two people inside a burning skyscraper has added to the mystery of the spectacular blaze that gutted a 32-storey tower in the heart of Madrid's financial district.

Authorities have asked for a copy of the video shown by Telecinco news on Friday and said to be taken by a couple while the fire was still raging but after firefighters had left the building because it was deemed too dangerous.

Madrid's eighth-tallest building was reduced to a blackened concrete skeleton one week ago when a fire that lit up the night sky like a huge torch devoured the 106-metre-high building from the top down.

The home video shows two mysterious figures on the 16th storey while the upper floors were engulfed in flames.

Madrid city officials said they could not have been firefighters, raising the question of whether the figures were arsonists, thieves or an optical illusion.

No bodies were found in the charred remains of the building, which will be dismantled bit by bit using robots hoisted by cranes.

Authorities initially suspected a short circuit but the owners of the building are demanding an investigation and have hired their own experts to determine the cause.

"Whoever was responsible for this horrible disaster is wanted. ... There could not have been a short circuit," property company Ason said in a statement on Friday.

The building was insured mainly by the Spanish unit of German insurance giant Allianz.

- REUTERS