Egypt’s Prime Minister inspects site of Alahram Studio blaze, orders financial compensation for affected families

CAIRO – 16 March 2024: Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Mabouli inspected the site of the Alahram Studio, which was engulfed in flames early on Saturday, and ordered compensation of 15,000 EGP for each affected family until their apartments are restored.

A massive blaze swept through Alahram Studio‎, one of the oldest Egyptian cinematic studios for movie shootings in Omraniya area, Giza governorate, early Saturday. The fire broke out inside a filming building after ending the last episode of “Al Maalem,” one of Ramadan T.V. series.

The Prime Minister also instructed authorities to issue national IDs for those who lost theirs during the incident.

Egyptian firefighters managed to put out the fire after it swept through the Studio and 5 adjacent buildings, Youm7 reported. Meanwhile, Al Masry Al Youm said that the fire engulfed 10 adjacent buildings.

The fire engulfed their facade and several residential apartments, leaving 14 people were injured and taken to hospitals.

The initial investigations revealed that the Studio was completely destroyed with all its contents, including decorations, wood, places designated for photography, and corridors. Highly flammable materials contributed to the rapid outbreak of the fire throughout the place.

The Public Prosecution ordered to form a committee of a group of engineers to determine the damage to these properties its impact on their structural integrity.

It was estimated that the initial losses to Al-Ahram Studio were approximately 10 million EGP, while the initial inspection showed that the fire is likely resulted from an electrical short circuit. However, a team from the Public Prosecution will fully uncover the circumstances of the incident and estimate the resulting losses after listening to eyewitness’ statements.

Al-Ahram Studio was established in 1944 by two Greek nationals on an area of 27,000 quare meters. It includes a group of plazas, a showroom and a recording hall and a film development laboratory. It has been a place for filming many dramatic and cinematic works that remained etched on Egyptian’s minds, as nearly 500 dramatic and cinematic works were filmed.