JEDDAH, 30 August 2003 — A massive fire at Ibn Qasim Market in south Riyadh left some 115 shops in ruins amid complaints from traders about the authorities’ hands-off approach toward the disorganized market. The fire did not cause any casualties.
The blaze, the fifth in nearly five months, broke out at 11.50 p.m. Wednesday night and raged until 5.00 a.m. the next morning causing losses worth more than SR1.5 million, Al-Watan reported.
Maj. Gen. Misfer Al-Joaid, commander of civil defense in the Riyadh region, told the Arabic daily that the reason for the fire was still unknown. “A large number of commercial shops have been completely destroyed by the fire, which was fueled by textiles and furniture,” he added.
Sultan Muhammad Al-Motairy, the owner of a gutted shop, accused some expatriate workers of being behind the recurrent fires which often occurred late at night. He said the fire had destroyed all his 11 shops.
Awad Al-Motairy, another trader, indicated that some expatriate vendors might have triggered the fire in revenge for traders informing police and the labor office about their activities in the market.
“Some expatriates have been renting old houses to use them as warehouses for their goods to market them here illegally,” Awad said.
Saleh Al-Amri complained that the authorities had neglected the market which lacked public services and security. The market remains unconnected to the power mains and the shops generate their own power from generators installed by the traders.
Talk Al-Baqami, another trader, said he had suffered a loss of SR90,000 from the fire.
Meanwhile, a fire at a public hospital in Mahail Asir in the southern region prompted management to evacuate some 150 patients. The fire, which broke out in the X-ray room as a result of a short-circuit, created fear among patients and their relatives.
An official source at the civil defense department said nobody was killed or hurt in the incident and the damage was limited to the X-ray room.
