Berlin Distraught musicians from one of the world's greatest orchestras plunged into the smouldering and smoke-clogged concert house of the Berlin Philharmonic, right, yesterday to rescue their instruments from destruction.

As lunchtime concert-goers filed out of the building, assorted players arrived for a rehearsal.

The gathering musicians grasped suddenly that there was something wrong. Some of them started to sprint through the cordons to the storage room, near the orchestra's canteen and retrieved their instruments. Others arrived too late and were stopped by police.

The fire broke out on the roof - possibly as a result of a spark from a builder's blow-torch - just as music-lovers were leaving a lunchtime concert. The tent-like concert house was empty, but there was a fear that the torrent of water sprayed by firemen and the sprinkler systems would reach the instrument store on the ground floor. Concert pianos, at least one of them hundreds of years old, were at risk of being seriously damaged by the streaming water and foam.

The fire service said that the auditorium was unharmed. However, the summer season of the Berlin Phil is likely to be restricted. (AFP)

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