Electrical problem suspected in Al Ain market fire

AL AIN // A fire in the Afghan area of the Old Al Ain Central Market that destroyed 16 businesses on Saturday may have been caused by an electrical short, the head of Al Ain Emergency Services said. There were no injuries in the blaze, which started at dawn in one store and spread quickly to the others, said Major Zayed Mohammed al Hajeri. "If businesses were open at the time, there may have been injuries," he said. "Security guards at the market were quick to call us when the fire first erupted."

The emergency call sent four ambulances - one of them a 20-patient bus-sized vehicle, in case there were multiple victims - to the scene, along with half a dozen police cars and eight fire trucks. Responders fought to prevent the blaze from spreading to all 50 stores. "When I first got here the fire was pretty small, just affecting a couple of stores," said Erfan Saleh, 27, a Syrian restaurant worker. "I saw the firemen doing everything they could to stop it from spreading but there wasn't any way they could do it because the stores are so close to each other. It took them around an hour to put it out completely. I am surprised the whole market didn't go up in flames."

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