About 139 people from 29 families were left homeless after Saturday’s fire that gutted an eight-storey building on Airport Road, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Director Brigadier Najm Abdullah Al Hosani told Gulf News: “All the 139 people have been provided with hotel accommodation and food by the government.”
Nine people sustained minor to moderate injuries in the fire, which erupted on Saturday around 3.30pm in the Awafi Trading building. Six other victims were treated on site. There were no fatalities, and injuries were due to smoke inhalation, police said.
A total of 14 fire engines, 12 pumps, seven ambulances, helicopters, seven civil defence stations, plus crime scene investigators and personnel from the criminal investigations department worked together to bring the blaze under control. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined but investigators confirmed that it began in the ground floor and quickly spread to the upper floors.
