One of the oldest film studios in Egypt and throughout the Arab world was destroyed overnight by a huge fire in Cairo, without causing any casualties, according to an AFP reporter and security sources.

The fire destroyed it Al Ahram Studio which was built in 1944 in the Giza area, west of the capital, and then expanded to three neighboring buildings that had been evacuated before the fire got there.

This morning, residents of these buildings were still sleeping on the ground in neighboring streets, according to an AFP correspondent.

Security sources clarified that the fire did not cause casualties, however they reported “incidents of shortness of breath that were treated on the spot”.

According to local media, the fire broke out after the filming of an episode of a soap opera that airs during Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month that began on Monday and during which television has the largest audience in Egypt and the Arab world.

Al Ahram Studio spans 27,000 square meters and includes three film sets, a screening room and an editing room.

In the 1950s, Egypt was the third largest film-producing country in the world. Today, it claims three quarters of Arab film production. The latter dropped to 21 films in 2022, as the country has been going through the worst economic crisis in its history in recent years.