Fifteen injured in bid to escape burning building

Muhannad Mansour/DTNN

muhannad@dt.bh

Manama--

A group of labourers were injured after jumping off a residential building in Manama after a fire was erupted in it on the wee hours of Sunday. A fire was broke out at the entrance of the building, forcing the majority of residents to jump out for their lives.

In a statement for Interior Ministry yesterday, Civil Defence Director Brigadier Mohammed Showaiter stated, “Civil defence teams extinguished a fire in an electricity meter of a building, which is used as a labour camp in Mukharqa area in Manama on Sunday morning.” 

“The case was reported at 1:42 am and the teams reached within 6 minutes and put out the flames.  Some of the tenants sustained injuries after jumping from the building as they couldn’t leave through the emergency exist because of the heavy smokes.  The Public Prosecution was notified,” he further explained.

According to sources, a total of 15 individuals sustained various injuries. Among them, 14 were Asian nationals, in addition to the 30-year-old Bahraini landlord, who suffered minor injuries on his right leg and was taken to the hospital. Among the rest, 11 were given treatment onsite, while four were referred to the hospital, including the landlord and three Bangladeshi nationals, who all sustained minor injuries in their right legs.”

The source added that the fire was caused by high voltage and that at least 70 per cent of the meter and entrance area were damaged. No further information was available.

A video posted online showed the labourors in their sleeping clothes climbing down pipes and jumping off to the road from the second floor, while pedestrians were helping other residents to escape the building by breaking the windows of the ground floor rooms.

Similar incidents of fire had occurred in labour camps in the area during the past few years, claiming the lives of over 20 people. Since then, the concerned authorities intensified inspection campaigns on labour residents to ensure compliance with safety and security standards and conditions.