A massive fire broke out early Monday at a police facility in northeastern Egypt, injuring at least 38 people before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze several hours later, as per ABC News.
The actual cause of the fire is not cleared by authorities it ripped through the multistory police headquarters and the area has been sealed off by security forces.
Egypt's Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfiq, whose ministry oversees police forces, rushed to the site in the city of Ismailia, which is about 125 kilometres (77 miles) northeast of Cairo. The Minister said that a committee was set up to investigate the fire.
The ABC News reported that it was not immediately clear how many police officials were in the building at the time although the police building was severely damaged in the blaze.
Videos on social media show flames and black smoke pouring from the building. According to the local MENA news agency, firefighters initially struggled to control the fire but, after three hours they managed to control it.
Egypt has a poor track record of enforcing safety standards and fire regulations, which has led to a number of deadly fires. In one of the deadliest recent incidents, a fire at a Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo in August 2022 killed 41 worshippers. According to the country's official statistics agency, there were more than 49,300 fires in Egypt last year, resulting in 203 deaths and 855 injuries.
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