A fire broke out in a warehouse in Malé last night in the second fire incident in the capital in less than a week.
The fire at the United Food Supplies warehouse in the Maafanu ward was reported to the Maldives National Defence Force’s (MDNF) fire and rescue services around 8:20pm and was swiftly contained around 8:40pm.
MDNF spokesperson Major Adnan Ahmed told Minivan News that the fire was caused by an ignition in the panel board of a storage container.
The warehouse on Hadhuvaree Hingun mainly stores vegetables, frozen goods and other food items, he said.
Local media reported that staff brought out several boxes from the warehouse to protect the food items after heavy smoke engulfed the area when the fire was extinguished.
The items in storage were not damaged in the fire.
Last night’s incident occurred three days after a fire broke out at the Kaaminee Shopping Centre in the city’s main thoroughfare Majeedhee Magu on Thursday, June 18.
The police and MNDF evacuated nearby shops and apartments, but the fire was also contained in a short period.
A police officer involved in the evacuating the staff was injured and taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for treatment.
A police media official said both cases were under investigation, but suggested that last night’s fire was most likely caused by faulty equipment.
“Two apartments nearby the fire at Kaaminee center were damaged by the fire, other than that there are not much damages apart from the shopping centre,” he said.
The authorities are yet to conclude an investigation into a massive fire at a Lily Store warehouse in Malé in March.
Photo from social media.