MAKKAH: Four people died and 17 were injured when a fire broke out this morning in a cable factory in Bahra, a town which is located between Makkah and Jeddah. According to a spokesman for the Civil Defense in Makkah, Col. Saeed Sarhan, a call was received at the control and guidance center Monday morning reporting the outbreak of a fire in the cable factory.

He said that the Civil Defense teams, backed by support teams from Makkah and Jeddah, rushed to the site. He indicated that the fire broke out on the third floor of the plant which consisted of six floors.

As a result, some of the floors were damaged when the fire moved through cables, while the upper floors were heavily affected by the smoke.

He said that the incident resulted in four deaths due to suffocation and their bodies were recovered from the fourth floor, while 17 others suffered different injuries and were evacuated.

Fourteen injuries were treated at the site, while three cases were transferred to the hospital by the Red Crescent.

Col. Sarhan said that the Director of Civil Defense in Makkah, Maj. Gen. Salem Al-Matrafi, ran the firefighting and rescue operations from the incident’s site, as security patrols, Red Crescent Authority, Traffic Department and electricity company were present in the fire area.