RIYADH, 18 May — A massive fire gutted a Health Ministry warehouse in Riyadh’s Shifa district on Thursday, destroying medical supplies worth SR100 million.
Brig. Misfar Al-Jaeed, director of Civil Defense in Riyadh, said the blaze had consumed medicines and hospital supplies stored in an area of about 1,000 square meters. He said the department was investigating the circumstances that led to the fire.
Dr. Hamad Al-Manie, director of health affairs in the Riyadh Region, said the fire was caused by an electric short-circuit. He described reports which said the losses due to the fire exceeded SR100 million as premature, and said no official estimate had been made so far.
A warehouse employee told Arab News that the facility neither had a fire-warning system installed nor had any firefighting equipment. He also pointed out that the warehouse, which was built some 20 years ago, was in need of urgent repair and maintenance.
Al-Jaeed said his department had asked the health department to rectify the safety faults in the warehouse.
Clarifying the delay in carrying out repair works in the gutted warehouse, Health Ministry’s Al-Manie said Riyadh Governor Prince Salman has allocated a piece of land in Areedh area to build a new warehouse. Once the new warehouse is ready, medical supplies in all the warehouses of the ministry would be shifted there, he added.
The Civil Defense director said quick action by his men had averted a bigger catastrophe as they prevented the fire from spreading to nearby warehouses and facilities. Emergency rescue units and two Civil Defense helicopters took part in the firefighting operation.
A health official said four firemen fainted during the operation as a result of smoke inhalation. “Three of them were given treatment on the spot while the fourth needed hospitalization,” he added.
A study published by the Okaz daily said 25,652 accidents were reported to the Civil Defense in various parts of the Kingdom in the year 1999. According to a study conducted by Dr. Zamil Abu Zinada and Dr. Hamza Baitalmal, 1.5 accidents were reported for every 1,000 people.
The study pointed out that about 58 percent of the accidents took place in spring and winter seasons.
The largest number of fire accidents at 245 were reported in the Riyadh Region, followed by the Makkah Region (180), the Eastern Province (168), Qassim (81), Madinah (64), Najran (68) and the Asir Region (59).
