Bahrain: Scores of occupants of a major luxury residential complex in Bahrain were evacuated yesterday after a fire broke out in a restaurant on the ground floor of one of the buildings.
Plumes of smoke were seen over Reef Island after the fire erupted at around 9am in the kitchen of Al Fayez Restaurant in the Emerald Building.
No injuries were reported as firemen and policemen evacuated the seven-storey building which houses three restaurants and almost 25 furnished apartments, which are fully
occupied.
According to witnesses, more than 20 people were rescued from the ground floor and more from the
top floors.
“A very limited fire erupted inside a false ceiling on the ground floor as a result of an electrical malfunction which produced fumes that circulated in one of the building’s ducts,” said a statement from Reef Island Management
last night.
The fire was rapidly contained, it said, adding that the security and safety department acted fast in controlling the
situation.
The company also praised the efforts of Civil Defence and policemen from Naim Police Station.
“The restaurant opens only after noon which is why there were no customers, and it being a working day, most of the residents were not in their apartments,” a witness told the GDN, on condition of
anonymity.
“At any given time nine staff members are working in the kitchen, as they work
in shifts.
“They all ran out as did a few other staff members who were working in and around the building.
“Police and Civil Defence personnel reached the scene within 20 minutes and evacuated the people,” said the 41-year-old expatriate.
The GDN saw three Civil Defence trucks and ambulance apart from many police patrols on the scene with more than a
dozen firemen.
An Interior Ministry personnel confirmed the fire, saying that it was a minor fire in the chimney which caused no damage to the
restaurant.
Emerald Building is a freehold property in Reef Island, which is one of Bahrain’s most expensive residential areas, located on Manama’s northern shore near Bahrain Financial Harbour.
The 579,000sqm island houses 39 residential buildings with a total of 1,217 apartments, apart from chalets, luxurious individual villas, a private yacht club, hotels, restaurants, gym and shopping
arcades.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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