A fire ripped through one of the largest buildings in the Egyptian Suez Canal city of Ismailiya on Monday, leaving at least 25 people injured as of this writing, a security source has told us.
The fire, whose origin was not immediately known, broke out before dawn at the security directorate’s headquarters and images posted online show huge flames engulfing the building’s many floors. imposing stone building manned by soldiers.
According to state media, the Health Ministry has dispatched 30 ambulances to the scene and two military aircraft are on the way.
Fires, often caused by short circuits, are not uncommon in Egypt, the most populous Arab country with 105 million people and dilapidated and poorly maintained infrastructure.
In August 2022, an accidental fire killed 41 worshipers at a church stuck in an alley in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, sparking a heated controversy over the infrastructure and firefighter response time.
In March 2021, a fire at a textile factory in the eastern suburbs of Cairo killed at least 20 people. In 2020, two hospital fires claimed fourteen lives.