A fire accident took place again in the parliament administration building in the early hours of Sunday.
According to Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), the fire broke out in an ablution room on the first floor, when a dustbin and tissue box caught aflame at around 4:00 a.m.
No one was injured in the fire and Police are currently investigating the incident.
This second incident occurred less than two months after a fire broke out in a toilet cubicle inside the parliament building on July 31. The first incident was caused when a toilet paper roll caught aflame, and sittings were temporarily cancelled due to safety reasons.
At a time of heightened political tensions between pro-government and opposition lawmakers over a censure motion against the parliament speaker, Deputy Speaker Moosa Manik had, at the time of the first incident, cited State Electric Company (STELCO) as saying that the fire was not caused by any electrical faults and, therefore, was “suspicious”.
However, neither MNDF nor the parliament administration has revealed steps taken to strengthen security or the results of the first investigation yet.
Lawmakers are currently in recess and will resume duties next month.
The second fire in the parliament building was preceded by another fire, which broke out late Saturday in a single-room apartment in a building in Henveiru ward. It was caused by an electrical short circuit, according to firefighters of MNDF, who quickly controlled and put out the fire.
However, MNDF stated that the items in the room were destroyed beyond use.
No one was injured during the incident.
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