Cairo telecoms building fire kills four and injures dozens

Minister says other hubs have taken over to resolve internet and phone disruption

Four workers were killed when a fire broke out at Egypt's main telecoms hub on Monday night, causing internet and phone service disruptions that were continuing on Tuesday.

State-owned company Telecom Egypt confirmed the deaths of employees inside Cairo's Ramses Central building.

The blaze began in a seventh-floor operations room before spreading to other floors, trapping some employees in the building. At least 39 people were injured, according to civil defence officials. The Ministry of Health said firefighters were among those injured.

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Financial services across Cairo and parts of Giza were affected by the internet and phone disruption.

Long queues formed at branches of several banks on Tuesday, as customers tried withdraw cash in person due to disruption to e-banking systems. Many Egyptians took to social media to complain that they could not make payments or carry out other transactions.

Telecommunications Minister Amr Talaat said services were being progressively restored. He said Ramses Central, which manages about 40 per cent of Egypt’s telecom traffic, is not the only centre of its kind, and other hubs across the country have taken on the load to compensate.

All services are expected to be functioning normally by Wednesday morning, Mr Talaat said, adding that some minor issues could persist in rural provinces but were being addressed.

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  Firefighters battle a blaze that broke out in a telecommunications building in central Cairo. AP

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  A woman rescued from the fire. The blaze killed four workers and wounded dozens, authorities said. Reuters

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  A firefighter in action at the site. Reuters

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  The fire led to communications disruption across the Egyptian capital, with people unable to make phone calls and the internet down. AP

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  Traffic stops as smoke rises from the fire. AFP

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  People look on as firefighters douse the flames. AFP

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  A policeman covers his mouth and nose as firefighters work to extinguish the fire. Reuters

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  Firefighters rest on the ground after extinguishing the blaze. Reuters

Services including banking, ATM operations and money transfer apps had largely returned to normal on Tuesday after being severely disrupted, the minister added.

Egyptian National Railways, which had announced a disruption to its nationwide ticket booking system on Monday, confirmed on Tuesday that the system was operational again. The Egyptian Stock Exchange, however, halted trading on Tuesday, citing instability following the fire.

Rescue workers said they suspected a short-circuit sparked the blaze but a more thorough investigation was needed to determine the cause.

The fire was brought under near control just before midnight after burning for six hours, officials said. However, smoke was still seen rising from various places in the building on Tuesday morning, prompting fears that the flames could reignite.

Firefighters remained at the site in an effort to keep it cool, officials said.

While many users reported marked improvements in internet and mobile connectivity on Tuesday, many also continued to report disruption, with some services slow or inconsistent.

The National Telecom Regulatory Authority had said technical teams were working to restore full service as quickly as possible and were assessing the effect of the fire on critical infrastructure.

Customers hit by the disruption were expected to be compensated, the authority said.

Media Production City, which hosts the country’s largest TV and radio stations, issued a statement saying that while live TV broadcasts were not affected, communications issues had disrupted co-ordination between programme producers and their sources.

Ramses Central, built in the 1927 under the reign of King Fuad I, has served as a critical node in Egypt’s telecoms network for nearly a century.