A large fire in Al Sailiya has left dozens of workers homeless after reducing through their accommodation to ashes Thursday afternoon, according to local media reports.
The fire took place during the midday work ban, and many of the men were sleeping in the labor camp when it broke out, the Peninsula reports.
Many rushed out of their rooms and escaped unharmed, but lost their possessions in the blaze. The newspaper quoted one laborer as saying:
“There is so much of diesel spilled around this area. Even a casual handling of a burning cigarette butt can trigger a big fire in this hot weather,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Interior, which tweeted shortly before 3pm yesterday, there were no injuries:
الدفاع المدني يستجيب لبلاغ حريق في منطقة السيلية دون مصابين
— وزارة الداخلية – قطر (@MOI_Qatar) July 30, 2015
When the blaze broke out, plumes of smoke could be seen by residents in the Industrial Area, off of the Expressway and near Aspire Zone:
@dohanews @DOHA_Insight fire at industrial area.. pic.twitter.com/yIS0R6R6zr
— Ryan P. (@ryesteven08) July 30, 2015
Seems like major fire accident in a factory near sailiya @Doha @dohanews @qatarliving pic.twitter.com/9ggEc6f9BZ
— முரளி (@muralikrishr) July 30, 2015
@dohanews view from my workplace on st 24 pic.twitter.com/Th4qAAYmyr
— NJ (@pistonkidd) July 30, 2015
The cause of the fire, which began around 1pm, remains unclear.
This is the latest in a series of blazes Qatar has seen this summer, many of them caused by short circuits from faulty air conditioning units.
Thoughts?
is it again the illegal industrial area on private land ?
Yes!
Electrical faults…yes because you cant grab a subsistence farmer from India and put a screwdriver in his hand and tell him he is an electrician…properly trained and registered tradesman and appropriate electrical regulations will save lives (if enforced of course, and that folks is a whole new mystery to Qatar).
Where in the report is it mentioned Indian workers? It’s inappropriate to mention nationalities; the cause is Unknown, nevertheless it’s a global concern and there is more than one individual responsible for it, including the so-called white collar gents.
On a general note, your point on untrained labours is valid.
you seem to be well qualified to comment on other nationalities
Oh observant one, I think thou art racist much. Are subsistence farmers from Nepal better at electrical work and do plumbers from Great Britain make better engineers? Don’t think there was a need to mention any particular nationality.
The root cause is untrained labour. Not where it comes from.
Where did these labourers spend the night? Were they accommodated temporarily in hotels or at least in another camp? Or were they left struggling to find a place to sleep on their own?