West Bank mobilises all firefighters in area to tackle major blaze rocking Hebron | World | News
A major fire has erupted in Hebron, 30 km south of Jerusalem.
Local reports said the fire started at the Royal Factory warehouse before quickly spreading across nearby neighbourhoods.
The mayor of Hebron, in the West Bank, said the local firefighting force has so far been able to contain the blaze because of a lack of equipment and capabilities.
Tayseer Abu Sneineh said: “All the municipal capabilities, including firefighters, water tanks, and bulldozers, were mobilized to extinguish the fire in the Royal Factory warehouse.
“The fire is larger than the existing capabilities in the country, and requires capabilities that are only available at the disposal of the occupation.”
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He has also urged citizens to stay away from the fire site and remove their vehicles from the roads leading to the site.
The huge fire triggered a first-degree state of emergency across the Hebron Municipality.
Civil defence teams from nearby Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem have also been deployed to help tackle the fire.
According to local reports entire neighbourhoods around the factory have been evacuated as firefighters continue to struggle to extinguish the fire.
The factory is the biggest Palestinian business in Hebron. It produces pipe systems as well as other plastic products.
The company, which is located in the Beir Haram al-Rama area, north of the city of Hebron, is considered a cornerstone of the Palestinian economy and employs nearly a thousand people.
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Footage seemingly taken from inside the factory earlier in the afternoon shows what appears to be members of staff trying to remove plastic pipes from the path of the blaze.
Local network QudsTV reported: “For more than two hours, civil defence crews are still dealing with extinguishing a factory fire in the Hebron Governorate with dozens of firefighting crews from the Hebron, Jerusalem, Jericho and Bethlehem governorates.”
Al Hadath correspondent Faleh Nusair said: “It is difficult to control and there are fears that the fire will spread to neighbouring homes.”
A local resident going by the account name @mooniapal wrote on X: “The situation is very difficult, the fire is consuming the entire area, and the crews that have gone are exhausted.”
