CAIRO: Five people were killed and 25 others injured in a mass fire that erupted late Monday at a clothing factory west of Egypt’s Mediterranean governorate of Alexandria, Al-Ahram reported.
The fire was contained Tuesday morning after eight fire trucks were dispatched to the site. The cause of the fire remains unknown; meanwhile, officials at Alexandria security directorate said a preliminary investigation indicates that a short circuit was the cause.
Some 22 of the laborers injured in the fire were released from hospital while the other three are being hospitalized, head of Emergency Unit at the Alexandria health directorate told Al-Ahram Tuesday.
During the past few weeks, several fires have erupted across the country.
On Oct. 6, civil protection forces contained a fire that erupted at the Torgoman bus stop in downtown Cairo. The blaze reportedly damaged 21 vendors’ stands.
On Aug. 22, a fire broke out in the eight-story building of El-Ataba call center in downtown Cairo leaving no casualties among civilians while a police officer was injured due to suffocation.
On Aug. 9, a large fire erupted at a paint factory in the 6 October City south of Cairo, the cause of which remains unknown.