YANBU, 1 May 2008 — A fire that broke out on the administrative building of the National Petrochemical Company (Yansab) yesterday is estimated to have caused losses worth SR12 million to the company. No deaths were reported, but Col. Zuhair Sabih, director of Civil Defense in Yanbu, suffered moderate burns.
The cause of the fire that broke out at about 5 a.m. was determined to be an electrical short circuit.
Firefighters had to battle for several hours to bring the blaze under control as strong seasonal winds helped the flames spread faster.
While the damage to the building is estimated at SR6 million, the office machines and air-conditioners destroyed in the fire are worth about SR5 million.
The valuable documents that were destroyed in the fire included 1,900 passports and 1,400 iqamas (residence permits) belonging to Chinese workers employed by contracting companies.
