DOHA: A labour camp in Al Sailiyah in Industrial Area was gutted in a major fire that broke out yesterday afternoon.
The Civil Defence rushed to the scene and put out the blaze. No causalities were reported.
According to camp residents, the fire broke out at around 1pm while most of them were sleeping after lunch. The cause of the blaze was not confirmed.
As the fire broke out, workers rushed out of the camp and in the melee, many couldn’t manage to take their belongings, including hard-earned money, with them.
“All our belongings are inside, there was no time to take anything. Everything has turned out into ashes,” said a worker.
The fire broke out between 1pm and by 2.45pm. The Civil Defence responded immediately to the situation and has brought the fire under control, the Ministry of Interior tweeted.
One of the labourers told The Peninsula that the area had witnessed another fire the other day, but it was doused by workers before it could spread to other areas.
“There is so much of diesel spilled around this area. Even a casual handling of a burning cigarette butt can trigger a big fire in this hot weather,” he said.
The workers, mostly involved in construction jobs, are from India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
The Peninsula
