Fire at Al-Azhar Mosque Under Control

Cairo, MINA – A fire that broke out inside Al-Azhar Mosque, in Al-Gamaleya area, has been brought under control without any fatalities.

Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb called for an urgent and comprehensive report on the damage caused, Arab News reported.

The Civil Protection used four fire engines to control the fire, a result of a short circuit in a lamp in a storage room, before it spread to the prayer square.

Hani Odeh, director of Al-Azhar Mosque, said that the fire was limited to one of the back rooms of the third floor.

Osama Talaat, head of the Islamic, Coptic and Judaic antiquities sector, confirmed that the building was safe, adding that a committee, headed by Ahmed Abu Bakr, vice president of the sector, immediately went to the site to ascertain the damage.

Upon visual inspection they found no damage to the building, its inscriptions, decorations or wooden items where the fire started, he said.(T/R3/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)