Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — An Arab national was arrested in connection with the fire of the Tashlih (junkyard) automobile market in Briman, located east of the Jeddah-Makkah Expressway. Lt. Col. Ati Al-Qurashi, spokesman for Makkah Police, said the criminal investigation wing at Samir town police caught a 23-year-old man suspected of involvement in the fire. He said: “Preliminary investigations showed that the fire broke out from a welding machine allegedly used by the suspect at the junkyard. “The suspect is being interrogated by police.” A huge fire that broke out at around 12.20 p.m. on Sunday gutted old vehicles over an area of 3,000 square meters. About two dozen Civil Defense firefighting teams were joined by helicopters in putting out the massive blaze. Meanwhile, Jeddah Municipality beefed up efforts to shift the junkyard to the Abu Jaalah region south of Jeddah. The junkyard is situated on an area covering 700,000 square meters with 180 automobile shops. Muhammad Al-Zahrani, chief of the Jeddah South Branch Municipality, said the new facility, spreading over an area of 1.3 million square meters, has the capacity of more than double the Briman junkyard.
