JEDDAH, 5 January 2003 — Three days after a huge blaze partially destroyed the popular Mahmood Saeed Commercial Center in Jeddah’s Al-Faisaliyah district, investigators told Arab News yesterday that they have still not managed to pinpoint the cause of the fire.
Initial reports pointed to an electrical fault. However, Abdullah Haddash, general manager of the souk, told Arab News yesterday that the electricity supply is routinely switched off at 12:30 a.m.
According to local traders, the fire started at around that time.
Renovation had been under way at the area of the souk which suffered most damage, but because of the wind’s direction when the fire broke out the new structures were untouched.
On the night of the fire, flames quickly spread to the center’s amusement park, destroying two thirds of the children’s rides and the confectionery and gaming booths along with several small antique, interior decoration, upholstering, flowers, essences and scents businesses.
To the dismay of local children, the playground at the souk will remain shut indefinitely.
The billowing, black smoke from the fire could be seen from the other end of the city at its fight.
Within minutes of it starting, the streets surrounding the commercial center were congested by huge crowds and bumper-to-bumper traffic, which delayed the arrival of back-up fire equipment.
Among the crowd were many who knew their livelihoods were going up in smoke before their eyes.
While some merchants lost their wares to the fire, flooding from the initial attempt to contain the flames also caused substantial damage to goods. A visit to the site yesterday revealed that fumes are still heavy in the air, and the scene remains generally chaotic.
Electricity still has not been restored. However, that does not seem to have deterred merchants whose shops were not damaged by the fire from trying to continue trading.
General manager Haddash said that he has taken measures to help the merchants who lost their stock, for example by refunding them their rent for the last month.
The souk’s structure is fully insured. However, merchants had a choice of whether or not to take out personal insurance for their individual stores, and many did not. They now face a very real prospect of having to start again from scratch.
