A sudden blaze at a central Cairo telecom exchange building on Monday left parts of the city in the dark — both literally and digitally — after power, phone, and internet services were disrupted for hours.
The fire, which broke out on the seventh floor of a historic communications center, also sent thick columns of smoke spiraling over the skyline. By the time emergency crews got it under control, at least 14 people had been injured, and a city already under summer heat found itself tangled in technical paralysis.
Smoke, Sirens, and Scrambled Signals
The fire erupted around midday in the heart of downtown Cairo, in a ten-storey building that houses landline telephone systems and the Ministry of Communications.
Panic spread fast.
Locals nearby described seeing “a giant grey mushroom cloud of smoke” rise from the upper floors. The video clips — shaky, loud, raw — soon flooded Egyptian social media feeds. Many users initially feared a terrorist attack, before official channels clarified the blaze stemmed from a malfunction or possible electrical short circuit.
State broadcaster Al-Masriya aired dramatic live shots of firefighters working through layers of soot and smoke.
At one point, even those covering the news had to rely on mobile hotspots from other cities, as ground internet lines in parts of Cairo simply went dark.
How the Fire Threw Cairo into Communication Chaos
The real trouble wasn’t the fire itself — it was the building’s role in Egypt’s telecom backbone.
Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber said the exchange was “an essential link” in both fixed-line telephone and broadband services across the capital and its surrounding districts.
Here’s what got hit:
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Landline phone services in downtown and Old Cairo went offline for nearly three hours.
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Internet connections sputtered across multiple neighborhoods, even reaching some government facilities.
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Some power transformers nearby were shut down as a precaution, triggering blackouts in blocks around Ramses and Garden City.
Even emergency response teams were reportedly forced to reroute some calls via backup mobile systems.
Just one sentence — it was chaos.
Airport Flight Schedules Feel the Ripple
The trouble didn’t stop at street level.
A separate statement from the Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed that telecom outages caused brief delays at Cairo International Airport. While no flights were canceled, several were pushed back due to poor connectivity between terminals, customs, and the air traffic control center.
A source at EgyptAir, requesting anonymity, said check-in systems experienced “a 20-minute brownout,” adding that “manual intervention was required to process boarding for at least three flights.”
Nothing catastrophic, but it was another reminder of how digital Egypt has become — and how quickly it can go quiet.
Firefighters Contain Blaze But Questions Linger
According to official reports, fire crews reached the scene within minutes.
The flames were mostly under control by early evening, with cooling operations extending into late night to prevent reignition. Photos released by Cairo’s emergency services showed charred window frames, melted cables, and ceilings collapsed by water damage.
The Ministry of Health confirmed that 14 people were injured — a mix of staff, responders, and bystanders. Most were treated for smoke inhalation, with two requiring overnight hospital care.
Still, the bigger question remains unanswered: how did the fire start?
Officials haven’t ruled out electrical failure, though one early theory points to overheating of backup generators on the seventh floor, possibly triggered by Cairo’s sweltering heatwave. As of now, no foul play is suspected.
Old Infrastructure Under Scrutiny Again
This isn’t the first time a legacy building in Cairo has caught fire under mysterious or accidental conditions.
In fact, since 2021, Cairo has seen at least six high-profile incidents involving outdated public infrastructure — from government offices to hospitals — sparking debates over safety standards and funding.
Here’s a quick recap of recent major fires:
| Year | Location | Cause (Official) | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | El-Monira Hospital | Electrical Short | 7 injured, ICU shutdown |
| 2022 | Ministry of Supply Building | Faulty Elevator Motor | Entire floor gutted |
| 2023 | Ramses Railway Station Annex | Generator Overload | Minor injuries, national delays |
| 2024 | Ain Shams University Archives | Unknown | 40% of archives lost |
| 2025 | Ministry of Communications Hub | Under Investigation | 14 injured, telecoms blackout in Cairo |
It’s a sobering list — and it keeps growing.
Officials Call for Emergency Upgrades
Within hours of the blaze, Egypt’s Minister of Communications Amr Talaat ordered a “full systems audit” of major telecom facilities across the country.
In a brief press briefing Tuesday morning, Talaat said the government would “accelerate modernization” of telecom infrastructure and mandate improved fire prevention standards in all state-owned network buildings.
But officials insist it’s serious this time — especially after temporary failures in 911-like emergency systems were flagged by citizens.
That said, civil society groups say this cycle of breakdown and reactive response has played out before.
“The problem isn’t just old buildings,” said Rania Abdel-Hamid, a digital governance researcher. “It’s that no one is doing preventive maintenance, and warnings go unheeded until smoke starts pouring out.”
One sentence. Just one. But it stings.
