Eight people, most of whom were children, were killed in a fire that erupted in their home in Oman on Wednesday morning.
Police said that a 35-year-old Omani woman and her five daughters, that were between the ages of five and 15, were killed in the blaze in the town of Barka in the Al Batnah region.
The woman’s sister and an Ethiopian domestic worker were also killed in the fire, while the children’s father and uncle managed to escape.
Witnesses said the incident, which took place at about 4.30am, woke them up.
"I was awakened by the noise. From my bedroom window, all I could see was fire and thick smoke coming from the house," one neighbour told The National. "There were two men standing outside, and they were very agitated. It was horrible."
Among those killed were 10-year-old twin sisters, who were blind, witnesses said.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but police suspect it was a result of faulty electrical wiring. The incident marks the greatest number of causalities killed in a domestic fire, said the police.
In 2015, three Indian expatriates were killed in a fire that broke out in their home in Muscat due to a wiring fault.
Safety experts say poor electrical wiring in both private and commercial buildings is the major cause of fire in the country, adding it costs millions of rials in repairs a year.
“My estimate is that fire due to faulty electrical wiring in buildings and private houses causes more than 20 million rials (Dh19.45m) in damages every year in Oman,” said Ian Philips, head of Health Safety and Environment (HSE) at Modern College of Business and Science based in Muscat.
“Some contractors try to cut corners in electrical wiring by installing cheap materials and sub standards cables,” Mr Philips added.
Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) last month confirmed that there had been 1,205 cases of fire in various parts of the country in 2017 compared to 1,189 cases reported last year.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
More on animal trafficking
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
'Skin'
Dir: Guy Nattiv
Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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