CAIRO (AP) — A huge fire broke out early Monday at a police facility in northeastern Egypt, injuring at least 38 people before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze several hours later, authorities said.
The cause of the fire, which ripped through the multistory police headquarters in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, was not immediately clear.
Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfiq, whose ministry oversees police forces, rushed to the site in the city of Ismailia, about 125 kilometers (77 miles) northeast of Cairo. He said a committee was set up to investigate the fire.
Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, said in a statement that 12 of the injured were treated at the site, while 26 others were taken to hospitals. All but two suffered from breathing difficulties; seven of the injured were treated and discharged, he said.