CAIRO- Twelve police conscripts died after a fire gutted their dormitory on the outskirts of Cairo, medical sources have said. The death of Emad Mohamed, a conscript, due to burns he sustained from the blaze that erupted late Thursday, raised the toll to 12, added the sources. Colonel Mohamed Magdi el-Saeed, an officer on duty on the night the fire broke out, told investigators that the death toll rose due to the stampede triggered among the conscripts in the aftermath of the fire in their camp in Al-Salam City on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital. He added that their dormitory had one exit only. The fire occurred while the conscripts were asleep. Two conscripts are still in hospital receiving treatment for burns. Preliminary investigations blamed the fire on an electric failure caused by a faulty fan switch.
