Civil Defence crews fought the Manama Souq blaze for roughly 30 hours before the last flames went out, according to the Gulf Daily News. The fire broke out on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in the old market at the heart of Bahrain’s capital.
Gulf News reported that it started in a multi-storey residential building and then jumped to the shops around it. More than 25 shops were destroyed, and several people were hurt. The Ministry of Interior put 16 vehicles and 63 officers and personnel on the scene, and Civil Defence teams set up a perimeter to keep the fire from running through the crowded market.
The toll rose as the damage was counted. The Gulf Daily News later reported three deaths and nine injuries. By June 20 it said nearly 150 shops had been damaged.
Calls for a warning system
Three days after the fire, Mahmood Al Namleti, vice-president of the Old Manama Suq Committee, asked the authorities to install “a fire warning system in the Manama Suq.” He also pressed for compensation for the people hit by the disaster.
The souq is centuries old. Its traditional shops and coffee houses sit in an old layout that the Gulf Daily News described as culturally valuable but hard to protect against fire.
Renovation on hold
Plans to restore the old souq were put off indefinitely. Authorities said they were waiting for a full report on what caused the fire and how much was lost. Until that report arrives, the renovation stays suspended.
No cause had been given when the Gulf Daily News filed its June 20 report.
Sources
- 25 shops destroyed by major fire in old Manama market, several injured
- Appeal for fire warning system in Manama Suq
- Suq renovation plans on hold indefinitely after fire
