Fire Breaks Out at Cairo’s Radio-TV Center; 35 Injured
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CAIRO — A fire Saturday at the state-owned Egyptian radio and television headquarters in downtown Cairo forced the evacuation of hundreds of employees, and 35 people were rushed to hospitals for treatment of smoke inhalation, police said.
The blaze, which briefly knocked out radio and televion broadcasts in the country, was extinguished in an hour by firefighters.
The fire, blamed on a short circuit, erupted in a room containing electrical cables on the second floor of the 31-story building overlooking the Nile River, police said.
They said smoke from the fire quickly engulfed the building’s first 10 floors, forcing about 500 employees and visitors to flee.
Firefighters used ladders to rescue about 50 employees trapped by the smoke on upper floors, police said.
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