Two commercial facilities in Hoora were gutted yesterday with owners claiming losses worth nearly BD25,000.

A traditional bakery and a store of an adjacent restaurant went up in flames at around 10am, reportedly soon after one of the men in the bakery pressed an electrical switch.

SOCKET

No injuries were reported and the firemen took almost two hours to douse the flames at the facilities located on road 1854, off Omar Ibn Abdulaziz Avenue, near Sadiq Gas.

“An electrical socket burst into flames when one of the men in the bakery switched on a plug with a holder attached to it,” a witness told the GDN.

“It was around 10am and I was standing outside the shop; in the beginning there were sparks before flames slowly emerged.

“The men tried to throw water on the fire, but it spread quickly both inside the bakery and to the store nearby, which belonged to a restaurant.

“Someone called the firemen and they were at the scene at around 10.20am; by then the flames had grown and there was thick smoke all over the place.

“Fortunately, the men fled the bakery quickly and nobody was inside the store which was locked.

“The firemen took almost two hours to douse the flames,” added the Bangladeshi national.

The supervisor of the restaurant, Bangladeshi national Jilman Tajidul Islam, told the GDN the losses in the store alone were estimated to be around BD15,000.

It contained groceries, water, beverages, flour and other items for the restaurant, along with furniture, a freezer and an air conditioning unit.

“I was not in the restaurant when this happened; I was in Manama,” he said.

“Someone called me and I rushed to reach here, only to see that the store was gutted.

“The restaurant, owned by a Bahraini, opens at 7am daily. At the time of the fire there were staff and customers in the restaurant, but far from the store.

“It had groceries, canned drinks and water bottles all of which burnt down and also a freezer and an air conditioner.

“The losses are definitely estimated at around BD15,000, if not more.

“Our owner is in hospital and he will soon take care of the insurance and other formalities.

“We are yet to be informed of the cause of the fire.”

Apart from this, the gutted bakery had an oven and other amenities which are estimated to be worth around BD10,000.

“The bakery with the traditional tandoor (oven) also has some facilities inside that should be around BD10,000,” said another witness.

“The bakery was run by two Arabs and they usually open it by around 10am.”

raji@gdn.com.bh

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