25 dead in furniture factory fire

A fire at a furniture factory killed 25 people on Tuesday (July 28), according to a spokesman for Egypt’s health ministry.

The fire in El Obour, an industrial city about 35 kilometres (22 miles) northeast of Cairo, also left 22 people wounded.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

One employee in the building, Islam Yousry, said that he thought chemicals were to blame.

“We were starting to work this morning when we heard a huge explosion from the factory below, the floor below us. They work using chemicals and have oxygen tanks. One of the tanks exploded and with the mixture of the chemicals there was an explosion in the whole building,” said Yousry.

In the aftermath firefighters doused the scene and emergency vehicles stood by as smoke billowed from the windows.

Egypt’s transportation and infrastructure safety standards have recently faced criticism after at least 35 people died last week in a boat collision on the Nile.