Egyptian authorities race to contain fallout from fatal telecom fire

Egyptian authorities on Tuesday raced to contain the fallout from a fatal fire at a key Cairo telecommunications hub, suspending the stock market, doubling cash withdrawal limits, and working to reroute disrupted internet and phone services.

The response came after a blaze late on Monday at the Ramses Central building killed four workers and injured at least 22 others, triggering a nationwide disruption of critical services.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat said on Tuesday that all telecommunication services would be gradually restored within 24 hours by redirecting traffic through alternative exchanges.

“The Ramses Central will remain out of service for several days,” Talaat said, adding that affected users would be compensated. He stressed that emergency services and other essential systems were operating normally in most areas.

To mitigate the economic impact, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) took proactive measures, temporarily raising the daily cash withdrawal limit for individuals and companies to EGP 500,000 ($10,400) from EGP 250,000 to facilitate transactions amid the disruption.

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) suspended all trading for the day, calling it a necessary step to “uphold market integrity and investor confidence” after technical and operational challenges made it impossible to ensure fair and orderly trading.