The key facts
- A fire in the Delisi business center in Tbilisi forced TV channel TV Formula to stop broadcasting
- According to a channel journalist, 22 employees were trapped in the newsroom due to smoke in the stairwells
- No data on casualties or the cause of the fire was available at the time of publication
Fire in Tbilisi: journalists trapped in the newsroom
On 4 November 2026, a fire broke out in the Delisi business center in Tbilisi, and thick smoke spread into the studio and newsroom of the opposition TV channel TV Formula located there. The channel's broadcasting was halted, and staff, according to their reports, found themselves trapped inside the building. This was reported by Euronews citing the channel's staff.
What the journalists themselves said
Channel journalist Sofo Vardiashvili told the Interpress agency that 22 employees were unable to leave the newsroom because smoke had filled the stairwells. According to her, firefighters who came upstairs said the newsroom was the safest place, and people shut the door. The elevators in the building were switched off, and attempts to descend the stairs had to be abandoned due to poor visibility. Her colleague Nino Zhizhilashvili appealed for urgent help on Facebook, writing that broadcasting had been stopped and part of the team could not get out because of the smoke. At the time of publication there was no information about casualties or the cause of the fire; the story was still developing.
