A massive fire broke out at a police establishment in Ismailia, a city located along the Egyptian Suez Canal, in the early hours of Monday.
The incident resulted in at least 38 injuries before the inferno was subdued by firefighters after several grueling hours, as reported by emergency services and media outlets.
Social media was flooded with videos showcasing the security directorate of the city being consumed by the formidable flames. The initial cause of the fire remains undetermined.
Eyewitnesses shared with Reuters that firefighters seemed to initially grapple with managing the formidable blaze. However, after more than three hours, it was reported by state television that the fire was eventually contained.
According to the Egyptian Ambulance Authority, a preliminary tally indicated that a minimum of 38 individuals sustained injuries during the incident.
Moreover, sources from the civil defense reported that portions of the building had succumbed to the fire, collapsing amidst the chaos.
Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik announced the assembly of an advisory committee tasked with investigating the origins of the fire and evaluating the structural safety of the affected building.
The objective is “to restore its efficiency as soon as possible,” as per a statement from his ministry. This incident in Ismailia is the most recent in a series of significant fires that have plagued Egypt, following an August 2022 church fire that claimed at least 41 lives.
Deadly fires are a common hazard in the Arab Republic, where many buildings are dilapidated and poorly maintained.
In March 2021, at least 20 people died in a fire at a textile factory in the capital, while in 2020, two hospital fires killed fourteen people.
