SYDNEY (Reuters) - A demolition site on the Sydney waterfront, recently bought by a China-backed developer with plans to build a luxury apartment tower, caught fire on Tuesday, prompting its evacuation, emergency workers said.
Circular Quay train station, one of Sydney's busiest, was also briefly evacuated, as were surrounding office buildings, local media reported, but there were no reports of injuries.
Television footage showed yellow flames surrounding the building that was covered in mesh ahead of its demolition, as well as thick smoke over the skyline of the city's business district.
Firefighters rushed to the site at Circular Quay, Sydney's passenger harbour, at about 9 a.m. AEDT (2200 GMT), the New South Wales state fire service said in a posting on its official Twitter account.
"Outside scaffolding is alight with lots of smoke in the area," a Fire & Rescue NSW tweet said. "All people have been evacuated."
Last month, China-backed Yuhu Group bought the building, One Circular Quay, and another building from Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group <0169.HK> for A$1.13 billion.
A Yuhu spokesman told Reuters in an email that the site remained under the management of Wanda because the sale had not yet closed.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Tom Brown and Richard Pullin)
