MORE than 500 vehicles are believed to have been damaged or destroyed in a huge blaze that spread through at least four scrapyards in Bahrain.
It broke out in Askar at around 12.30pm yesterday and is said to have spread rapidly due to strong winds.
Scrapyard workers joined in the fire-fighting effort, along with 21 Civil Defence vehicles and 70 firemen.
Thick smoke could be seen rising into the sky from several kilometres away, in the same area where another fire broke out just over a year ago.
The owner of one scrapyard that suffered major damage pointed the finger at a neighbouring business, blaming a practice that involves burning scrap metal wire.
“We warned them several times,” said Fuad Ebrahim Hamdan, who owns Ebhraim Hassan Hamdan Scrap.
He claimed a similar incident last year was caused by the same company.
“It was around the same time (last year),” he told the GDN.
“They were burning some wire, but the wind picked it up and it flew into our scrap where the fire started.
“Last time it cost around 300 cars, worth almost BD100,000.
“Now we expect to lose more than 500.”
However, he argued there was no deterrent to stop the practice.
“They think they can keep getting away with it because there’s plenty of smoke in the area from factories, so no-one says anything,” he claimed.
The co-owner of another scrapyard, Al Sayed Metals, said his staff were on their break when the blaze broke out.
“We were out to lunch and I was at the traffic police, taking care of some things,” he said.
“When we got back the fire had already started.
“We suffered more than BD7,500 worth of damages in cars, but I think other places got it worse than us.
“We don’t know what caused the fire and are still waiting for the investigation to be concluded. Only then can we know how it started.
“When we saw the fire myself and the other workers tried to put it out with buckets of water, but the wind was too strong.”
Firemen eventually doused the flames at around 4pm, after which they continued cooling operations to make sure they did not reignite.
No injuries or fatalities were reported.
ghazi@gdn.com.bh
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