25 killed in factory fire near Egypt's Cairo

At least 25 people were killed and 22 others injured in a fire that caught a furniture factory at Al- Obour district of Egypt's Qalioubiya province north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Egyptian Health Ministry's spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told Xinhua.

"Nineteen of the injured people have been discharged from hospitals and three are still intensive care," the Health Ministry' s spokesman added, noting that the deaths and the injuries resulted from burns and suffocation cases.

Abdel-Ghaffar mentioned earlier that the bodies and the injured people were taken to nearby hospitals of Al-Obour, Al-Salam, Shibin al-Qanatir and Ain Shams, and that ambulances and firefighting vehicles were heavily present at the scene.

A security source told official media that the fire was completely put out and the firefighters were working on the cooling process to make sure it would not re-ignite due to the hot weather, noting that some 20 firefighting vehicles from Cairo and Qalioubiya took part in the process.

He added that Al-Helw Factory for Offie Furniture did not have the operating permits issued by the civil protection department for meeting safety standards. Enditem