PRESIDENTS ESCAPE LIBERIA BLAZE!

Presidents escape Liberia blaze

The fire broke out during independence anniversary celebrations. A fire has broken out in Liberia's presidential offices as President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was about to host a gathering of visiting presidents.
Firefighters had managed to put out the blaze at the Executive Mansion by late Wednesday afternoon, the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh reports from Monrovia.
The leaders of Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone were there when the fire broke out, but escaped unharmed.
No injuries are reported but the blaze marred independence day celebrations.
Officials have not yet stated what caused the fire, which began on the fourth floor of the building, where the president's office is situated.
They say the incident will be investigated.
The blaze came just after the president switched on generator-powered street lights in the capital, Monrovia, which has lacked electricity for 15 years.
On Tuesday, piped water was made available in the capital for the first time in many years.
'Proud'
Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf had promised to bring electricity to the whole of Monrovia within six months of assuming office in January.
Ghana's President John Kufour joined her to switch on the street lights in Congo Town, an eastern suburb of Monrovia on Wednesday morning.

Liberia switches on street lights

Ghanaian technicians have helped install the street lights for the event, and the generators and poles came from Ghana.
"Ghana is proud to have been able to render this support to you and your nation," Mr Kufour said to Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf.
"As lights dispel darkness, so with the restoration of power to Liberia the period of gloom and darkness engendered by political turmoil must come to an end," he continued.
As Liberia celebrates 159 years of independence, every effort was being made to ensure visible signs that life in the capital is improving, our correspondent says.
In another landmark event, parts of the capital got access to pumped water for the first time in 15 years on Tuesday.
But after decades of misrule, Liberia's road network is still in ruins, an there is no national telephone network and no national electricity grid.
Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf won presidential elections last year that ended a brutal 14-year civil war and promised to rebuild the resource-rich country.
President Johnson-Sirleaf admitted that she had expected to do more by this stage, but contracts and plans already in place were difficult to change.
Low fee
Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf led an array of officials to the densely populated Fiamah community of Monrovia for the water supply launch late on Tuesday.

The water will supply greater Monrovia and the east of the city.
"I just want to say how proud we are. This was done by a full Liberian team," the president said.
She was told that 30% of the city's water needs had been addressed so far.
The water will flow from there to greater Monrovia and at least two large communities in the east of the capital.
The country's water treatment plant outside Monrovia was destroyed during the civil war that ended an 2003 when in interim government came into power.
Since then there has been serious renovation work on the main 36-inch pipe that supplied greater Monrovia before the war.

BBC NEWS REPORT.