Makkah, June 24: A huge fire tore through the 46-year-old historic Makkah TV building in old Zaher District Tuesday, leaving behind a pile of debris, but the transmission from Makkah will remain in full swing, authorities said.
The fire started at 3:00 P.M. due to a short circuit of the air-conditioner in the photocopying unit, according to preliminary investigations, said Lt. Gen. Adel Zamzami, Chief of the Makkah Civil Defense Department.
The TV employees managed to evacuate the building immediately when the blaze hit it. No injuries were reported. Nearly 135 full-timers and freelancers work for the Makkah TV station.
The Makkah TV runs an active media operation, especially during Umrah and Haj seasons, public holidays and festivals, and international Islamic conferences held in the Holy City. The last production of the station was aired last Friday on Saudi TV Channel One on the King’s 4th anniversary to the throne.
Dr. Abdul Aziz Mohieddin Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information, said that the fire would not disrupt the transmission of daily programming from Makkah. The Makkah TV business will continue as usual nonstop from a stand-by fully-equipped new building, he said.
The new building, worth SR50 million, has been set up on an area of 14,000 sq.meters.
The cost of fire damage at the small building of 1,200 sq.meters was not immediately known, but “the fire has damaged almost everything here,” said Abdulrahman Al-Hazza’, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information for Internal Information and spokesman of the ministry.
Khalid Al-Baiti, Director General of Jeddah TV, said the fire did not affect the operations of the Makkah TV production and transmission vehicle. – With contributions from Faleh Al-Dhibyani, Abdul Kareem Al-Murabba’ and Hatim Al-Mas’oudi
–Agencies–