Major fire outbreak at Muharraq Gold Souk

A major fire that erupted in a storehouse at the Muharraq Gold Souq has sent panic waves across Bahrain yesterday. However, no casualties had been reported.

An eyewitness told DT News that the fire erupted all of a sudden at around 5.15 pm.  “Within no time, as many as ten Civil Defence units rushed to the spot and were able to put out the fire,” he said.

As it was the weekend, the witness said, there was huge rush in the Souq. “Luckily the cops could control the situation and were able to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent shops,” he said, adding quick response of the personnel had averted a major mishap.

Many shopkeepers were seen moving their goods quickly to safer places. “We had a hard time. The fire broke out all if a sudden and we somehow managed to move our goods to safer place,” he said adding that the loss was being ascertained.

High-ranking officials including Muharraq Governor Salman bin Hindi Al Mannai visited the accident spot to review the situation.

Meanwhile, owing to the fire, traffic snarls could be witnessed on the roads leading to the Souq.

“I took almost half-an-hour to reach home from my office. The traffic had been moving at a snail’s pace. At first I was unaware as to what had happened, and it was only later that I came to know about the fire,” said Mohammed Aslam, who works at a factory in Busaiteen.