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10 injured as fire rages in three Sharjah factories

SHARJAH — In a massive fire that swept across three factories in the Sharjah Industrial Area No.13 yesterday, 10 workers suffered serious burn injuries.

The fire erupted around 4.30pm in a cardboard factory and spread rapidly to the neighbouring lubricants and glass factories.

The sounds of explosions caused by the fire in the lubricants and glass factories could be heard by people in the vicinity.

The police, Civil Defence, Anjad patrol and ambulance units reached the scene within 10 minutes and evacuated the workers from the labour camp located inside the cardboard factory.

They rushed the injured to Al Qasimi, Kuwaiti, and Iranian hospitals.

The fire continued to rage till late evening as Sharjah, Ajman and Dubai Civil Defence fire-fighters struggled to douse the flames and prevent them from spreading to neighbouring areas.

The fire-fighting operations were supervised by Col Ghareeb Shabban, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, and Brig Salih Al Mutawa, Director-General of Sharjah Police.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Brig Al Mutawa said investigations were on to ascertain the cause of the fire.

The loss of property is estimated to be huge and could run into millions of dirhams, he said, pointing out that the three companies were not abiding by safety regulations and lacked fire prevention and protection measures.

Housing labour camps inside the factory premises is considered a major violation of the law, which, in this case, had put the workers’ lives at risk.

He urged all companies to abide by the safety regulations and warned them against using factory premises for housing purposes.

• UAE