A fire ravaged Monday, October 2, one of the largest buildings in the Egyptian city of Ismailia, on the Suez Canal, where all hospitals were placed on alert to accommodate possible victims, the Agence France-Presse, security source. According to videos posted on social networks, the fire was under control Monday morning, but the building appeared devastated.
The fire, whose origin was not immediately known, broke out at the headquarters of the security directorate before dawn and images posted online showed immense flames devouring the many floors of the imposing stone building.
So far, no reports have been communicated, but usually soldiers are in this building at all hours of the day and night.
No comments from the authorities
State media and the authorities have so far not commented on this event which occurs on the same day that the president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, could announce, according to his supporters, his candidacy to succeed him in the presidential election. of December.
Fires, often caused by short circuits, are not rare in Egypt, the most populous of the Arab countries (105 million inhabitants), with dilapidated and poorly maintained infrastructure.
In August 2022, an accidental fire killed 41 worshipers in a church stuck in an alley in a working-class neighborhood of Cairo, triggering a heated controversy over infrastructure and the response time of firefighters.
In March 2021, at least twenty people died in a fire at a textile factory in the eastern suburbs of Cairo. In 2020, two fires in hospitals left fourteen dead.