Istanbul's historic Haydarpasa train station has been severely damaged by a fire which engulfed the roof of the building. The blaze broke out while restoration work was being carried out on the early 20th century structure on Sunday, November 28, 2010. Firefighters in fireboats battled the flames for several hours, using water cannons to extinguish the flames. There were no casualties in the incident, but the fire damaged 'most of the roof and the fourth floor'. Haydarpasa was built in 1908 on the Asian side of Istanbul, bisected by the Bosporus Strait, as part of German Empire's ambitious Berlin-Baghdad railway project aimed at gaining control and influence in the region. It is regarded as an architectural wonder, with flights of marble stairs leading to the ground floor from where passengers board trains from several tracks. The monument, covered by textured sandstone, sits on a foundation of hundreds of timber piles, hammered into the seabed. [CFP]