After a total halt of business due to a fire at the Nasr Petroleum Company that killed a worker and wounded 24 others on Saturday, the Nasr Cooling Company in Suez continued to operate its tanks amid mounting smoke.
Monday, the armed forces began removing water, which submerged company premises and the street where it is located as the fire was extinguished.
Meanwhile, Suez prosecution continued investigated the incident, and formed a committee at the Petroleum Ministry to estimate the damages, check if the company meets the requirements of industrial safety and determine if the fire was the result of negligence or an act of arson. They also took testimonies of firefighters and workers who were injured, and inspected six tanks.
According to Kamal Saafan, the head of the company, the losses exceeded LE5 million.
The Salafi movement in Suez issued a statement on its Facebook page, urging people to supplicate to God, and asked Parliament to cooperate with the competent bodies to find out the cause of the incident so as to avoid similar occurrences.
The statement also called for a transparent investigation, and for bringing to account all those who have violated humanitarian regulations even before those of safety regulations, as it put it.
The Suez Youth Bloc and the April 6 Youth Movement held protests on Sunday, claiming that officials and the military junta deliberately set the fire to distract the public and take revenge from the people of Suez for sparking the revolution.
Another fire had broken out 50 days ago in the Suez Oil Processing Company, an affiliate of the Nasr Cooling Company, killing six workers and injuring 14 others, that was followed by a huge explosion in the fuel tank of a locomotive of the Suez Arsenal, a subsidiary of the Suez Canal Authority, killing three workers and injuring 12.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
