Bahrain's fire service has dealt with more than 2,000 callouts within three months, as against an average of 560 per month last year, according to the latest figures.

Among the most serious cases were 128 house fires, including 78 where people were trapped and had to be rescued, 112 in cars and 27 inside shops.

Others included 71 car accidents, 476 cases of people being locked out of their vehicles, another 30 where children had locked themselves inside cars and 12 of people becoming trapped in bathrooms and elsewhere in their homes, said Civil Defence deputy director-general Colonel Mohammed Showaiter.

Firemen's help was sought to remove 68 beehives and they responded to 10 complaints concerning jammed elevators.

The latest statistics makes no mention of acts of sabotage, including arson attacks or tyre burning.

Col Showaiter said the total number of cases dealt with by the Civil Defence was 2,033 and praised the role of firemen in protecting the public.

"Civil Defence helped in contributing to the safety of the people and it also provided many humanitarian services," he said.

"We have received a number of cases in the past three months and we have conducted a survey of those we have dealt with. The results show that the number of house blazes is 128, rescue operations inside houses and apartments are 78, while there are 27 reports about shops that caught fire.”

"The number of cases where cars caught fire increased to 112 most of which happened as a result of fuel leakage or electrical fault,” he said.

"We have also took part in 12 cases of evacuating people stuck in rooms and bathrooms, especially children trapped inside locked rooms. Around 10 cases were reported of jammed elevators, 476 of locked cars and 71 of removing beehives." – TradeArabia News Service