Civil Defense firefighters had to evacuate all students and staff from Fifteen Middle School, south of Jeddah, after a fire broke out in one of the classrooms on Tuesday morning. A total of 18 students were treated at the site and several transferred to various hospitals. They are all in good health, said Col. Said Sarhan, press spokesman of the Civil Defense Department in Makkah.

Sarhan said the operation room of the department in Jeddah received notice of the fire at the school and dispatched three teams of firefighters and four rescue teams. The teams evacuated 750 students and 62 faculty members. Firefighters were able to trace the source of the fire to an electric short-circuit in one of the air conditioners.

The fire was extinguished, allowing medical teams of the Civil Defense, the Health Affairs, and the Red Crescent to treat students who were affected by the fire.

Sarhan said the incident was reported to the Department of Education, and the site was handed over to agencies to monitor safety procedures. He said Brig. Salem Al-Matrafi, director of the Civil Defense in Jeddah, monitored the teams.