MONEY TO BURN: The fourth floor of the Suez Canal Bank's downtown branch was completely destroyed by a fire on Tuesday, reports Reem Nafie. By 5pm, half a dozen fire trucks had surrounded the old, four-storey downtown building owned by the bank. As the fire department attempted to contain the blaze, a crowd of people had gathered to watch as the entire fourth floor was destroyed in less than half an hour. Since the bank employees had already left work, there were no casualties. Only four people -- two security men and two janitors -- were present in the building at the time. They were taken into custody for questioning. The cause of the fire remained unclear as the investigators had yet to inspect the building itself. Nabil El-Ezabi, head of Cairo Security and assistant to the minister of interior, told reporters that because the fourth floor had been built in a makeshift manner out of wood, it easily caught fire. Since the building was so old, the firefighters chose to use foam mixed with water -- which is gentler than just water -- to put out the blaze. One of the buildings next door was evacuated completely, while others nearby were left alone. In fact, their residents were standing on their balconies watching the fire. A number of shops and the petrol station across the street were all shut down. El-Ezabi said that as soon as the fire department arrived at the scene, "gas and electricity were cut off in the entire area" to ensure that no other damage would occur. He also said that because the bank's fourth floor was only used for storage, all of the money and documents in the bank's possession were "safe". A large security contingent, meanwhile, has been placed on guard at the bank. Wagdi El-Rabat, the bank's board chairman, refused to comment. The bank is located on a downtown street with several other financial institutions, including the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), and several government buildings including the Religious Endowments Ministry.
