CAIRO (Reuters) -A fire broke out on Monday in a key telecoms data centre in Cairo, injuring at least 14 people, Egypt’s health ministry said, but a state TV reporter said it had been contained after disrupting communications across the capital.
People were unable to make phone calls, and a major internet disruption was registered after the fire erupted in the building in central Cairo, with internet monitoring group Netblocks saying network data showed national connectivity at 62% of ordinary levels.
The health ministry said the injured were transferred to a nearby hospital without giving any further details.
“A fire broke out this evening in one of the equipment rooms at the Ramses switchboard of the Telecom Egypt company, which led to a temporary disruption of telecommunications services,” the National Telecom Regulatory Authority said in a statement.
It said services would be restored over the next few hours, after power to the whole building was cut off as a safety measure.
A plume of smoke could be seen above the Ramses district.
The state news agency MENA said the fire had been prevented from spreading to the entire building and neighbouring rooftops.
An initial examination indicated that the fire was likely to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, MENA cited a security source as saying.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Momen Saeed Atallah in Cairo, Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Barbara Lewis, Kevin Liffey and Bill Berkrot)
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