One of the oldest film studios in Egypt and the Arab world was ravaged in the night from Friday to Saturday by a huge fire in Cairo, without causing any casualties, according to an AFP journalist and security sources.
The fire devastated the al-Ahram Studio built in 1944 in the Giza region, in the west of the capital, and then spread to three neighboring buildings which were evacuated before the arrival of the flames.
Saturday morning, the residents of these buildings were still sleeping on the ground in the surrounding streets, according to the AFP correspondent.
Security sources clarified that the fire did not cause any casualties, however reporting
"minor cases of suffocation who were rescued at the scene"
.
According to local media, the fire broke out after the filming of a soap opera broadcast during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting which began on Monday and during which television enjoys its biggest audiences in Egypt and the Arab world. .
Al-Ahram Studio covers 27,000 m2 and includes three film sets, a projection room and an editing room.
In the 1950s, Egypt was the world's third largest film producer.
Today, it claims three quarters of Arab film production.
This dropped to 21 films in 2022, while the country has been going through the worst economic crisis in its history in recent years.