MAY 18, 2008

Hakkinen loses his house

A fire has destroyed the French country home of Mika Hakkinen. The blaze broke out in the mansion outside the village of Callian, near the town of Grasse, in Provence. The fire started at around four o'clock on Saturday morning and destroyed around three-quarters of the building, which had only just been finished. Firemen from several villages in the region fought the fire but no-one was injured in the blaze. Hakkinen was not at home and his girlfriend and a friend of her's fled the building.

The fire was later traced to a short-circuit in the lighting system in one of the former World Champion's trophy cabinets.