(AFP Photo)
A fire partially destroyed a Cairo warehouse belonging to Qatari news network Al-Jazeera Tuesday morning.
The warehouse, situated on Al-Galaa Street in downtown Cairo, is used to store cameras and other equipment which, Al-Jazeera reported, were completely destroyed in the fire. The news network reported it notified the public prosecution with of incident to begin investigating it. The Ministry of Interior stated that the fire completely consumed two rooms where equipment was stored.
The ministry added in a statement released on Tuesday that the Cairo Security Directorate is maximising its efforts to identify the cause of the fire. Al-Jazeera reported that the burnt warehouse was closed when it caught fire, adding that it had no access to electricity.
Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr’s office was raided in August by security forces, a move that was heavily criticised by freedom of expression advocates.
Several journalists working for Al-Jazeera have faced detention by Egyptian security forces since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi by the Armed Forces on 3 July. One of them is cameraman Mohamed Badr, who was arrested on 15 July while covering clashes in Ramses and correspondent Abdullah Al-Shami, who was arrested on 14 August for alleged weapon possession while covering the dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in. Cameraman Adil Bradlow and producer Russ Finn, both working for Al-Jazeera, were arrested on 27 August and detained for five days without charge.
