Fire at Blue Nile TV studios causes large financial damage
February 8, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Blue Nile television station building caught fire on Wednesday morning destroying a major studio as well as the newsroom and forcing the channel to stop broadcasting.
In press statements, director of the Blue Nile TV, Hassan Fadl al-Maula, said the fire broke out at 10:00 am. (local time) Wednesday due to an electrical fault, pointing that firemen and TV workers managed to put out the blaze in an hour and a half.
He said the fire destroyed a side studio and the news room completely, pointing to minor damages in the main studio and broadcasting room.
Fadl al-Mula added the blaze didn’t cause any loss of lives, saying the financial loss is estimated at 10 million pounds (about $555,000).
He expected the channel to resume broadcasting sometime during Wednesday.
It is noteworthy that the Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman, State Minister of Information Yasser Youssef and Commissioner of Omdurman locality Magdi Abel-Aziz have rushed to the fire site to inspect the situation.
Fire incidents at TV stations have increased recently. Last May, a similar fire broke out at the news studio at Ashorooq TV. Also, an electrical fault caused the cancellation of a live broadcasting at Sudania 24 TV earlier this month.
(ST)