Sudan’s armory catches fire amid confusion over cause

21 May, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – A huge fire broke out Monday at a warehouse belonging to Sudan’s Military Industry Corporations (MIC) in the capital Khartoum amid conflicting reports by official sources on what caused the incident.

The fire erupted in the MIC’s building complex in Al-Shigarah area south of Khartoum, spreading panic among residents of the area as police authorities blocked the main road leading to the site for three hours.

Fire-fighting forces later arrived at the scene and managed to contain the flames before reaching other parts of the building.

Meanwhile, sources at the defense ministry attributed the fire to over-heating in the main armory, while other sources indicated that the incident occurred during a routine maintenance operation in which a welder accidentally torched one of the machines.

MIC is the arms-manufacturing division of Sudan’s defense ministry. It claims to produce an array of light and small weapons for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and has three production sites shrouded in tight security in Khartoum.

(ST)