国际英语新闻:25 killed in factory fire near Egypt's Cairo

CAIRO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 25 people were killed and 22 others injured in a fire that caught a furniture factory at Al-Obour district of Egypt's Qalioubiya province north of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Egyptian Health Ministry's spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told Xinhua.

"Nineteen of the injured people have been discharged from hospitals and three are still intensive care," the Health Ministry's spokesman added, noting that the deaths and the injuries resulted from burns and suffocation cases.

Abdel-Ghaffar mentioned earlier that the bodies and the injured people were taken to nearby hospitals of Al-Obour, Al-Salam, Shibin al-Qanatir and Ain Shams, and that ambulances and firefighting vehicles were heavily present at the scene.

A security source told official media that the fire was completely put out and the firefighters were working on the cooling process to make sure it would not re-ignite due to the hot weather, noting that some 20 firefighting vehicles from Cairo and Qalioubiya took part in the process.

He added that Al-Helw Factory for Offie Furniture did not have the operating permits issued by the civil protection department for meeting safety standards.