Three people were killed and 28 others injured in a massive fire broke out late on Sunday in a crowded commercial district of Egypt's Nile Delta city of Tanta, Gharbeya governorate, a senior Health Ministry official said Monday. The fire destroyed a five-storey department store of Almasnoat Almisryia Company and nearby shops, leaving 31 people dead and injured, quoted the ministry's under- secretary Hisham Sheiha said. Only two of the injured had burn wounds and they were transferred to Al-Menshawi General Hospital and Tanta University Hospital, Sheiha said, adding that the remaining 26 suffered from smoke inhalation and they are all in stable condition. The bodies of the victims which are burnt beyond recognition are kept at Tanta University Hosptial's morgue, he said, according to official news agency MENA. The blaze started with the tents of the vendors attached to each others there, then completely destroyed the five-storey department store. More than ten ambulances and 20 fire cars rushed to the scene before the fire extended to the other stores. Loses are estimated at millions of Egyptian pounds, as the fire ruined 13 commercial stores.
