At least 25 workers have been killed by a fire at the Al-Helw furniture factory in El Obour, a city roughly 30km northeast of Cairo. According to a statement by Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghafar, another 22 people were also injured in the fire. The spokesman also said that the number of those killed is expected to rise. According to local media, the families of those killed by the factory fire will be compensated with just EGP 5000. Eyewitnesses have stated that the blaze started when the gas tank of an air compressor machine inside the factory exploded. Wooden materials and chemicals inside the factory caused it to spread quickly. According to Egyptian state-run media, the Al-Helw furniture factory had not obtained a government safety certification. The head of the Obour City Development Authority Amin Ghoneim also stated that the factory had no emergency exits, explaining the high number of labourer deaths. The fire is the latest in a number of accidents, which demonstrate the often unsafe and unregulated working conditions of Egyptian workers. In August 2014, two workers were killed and three hospitalised while preparing waste-water drainage networks…
Unsafe Working Conditions in Egypt Claim At Least 25 Lives in Factory Blaze
July 29, 2015
