According to the health ministry, a large fire that started at a police headquarters in the Egyptian city of Ismailia on Monday caused no less than 38 injuries before it was put out.
Although the building was fully staffed with police officers when the fire started just before dawn, no fatalities were immediately reported.
The Ismailia Security Directorate’s entire building had been completely destroyed by the fire by the time the first rescue teams arrived.
The multi-story building was completely hidden by a huge cloud of smoke as flames tore through it before the fire was put out.
As emergency services conducted cooling procedures to stop another fire from starting, all that was left of the headquarters by dawn was a charred shell.
Users posted videos of the fire on social media, showing people trapped inside calling for help from the windows.
Security forces have cordoned off the area, where rescuers were using a crane to try to eject those who were trapped inside, and the cause of the fire is still unknown. AFP correspondents saw this action take place.
How many police officers and detainees were housed in the building over night has not been disclosed by the authorities.
According to the health ministry, 24 of the 26 injured who were taken to a nearby hospital had experienced “asphyxiation,” and two had burns.
According to local media, the health ministry sent 50 ambulances to the scene along with military emergency services, including two planes.
In Egypt, where fire regulations are rarely upheld and emergency response times are frequently long, deadly fires are a common risk.
The country’s infrastructure and the fire brigade’s response time were both criticized after a short circuit that started a fire in August 2022 that killed 41 worshipers in a Cairo church.
Most died while attempting to flee the structure. While firefighters arrived after more than an hour, others jumped out of windows to escape the fire.
The collapsed structure that housed the church and the neighborhood’s confusing network of alleyways, which delayed the arrival of emergency personnel, were held responsible for the disaster.
The fire on Monday occurred in one of the numerous new police stations that have been constructed or updated in the nation over the previous ten years.
At least 20 people died in a fire at a textile factory in the nation’s capital in March 2021, while 14 people perished in two hospital fires in 2020.