1.
GV PAN from fire engines and firemen with hoses to burning jute stack
0.13

2.
GV ZOOM in past Bales of Jute to firemen hosing
0.18

3.
SV Firemen hosing smouldering stacks (4 shots)
0.29

4.
GV Fire and firemen hosing it(2 shots)
0.45

5.
SV ZOOM out to cotton bales burning
0.51

6.
GV's bales burning (3 shots)
1.05



Initials ET/1655 T/1711



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: More than 1,000 tons of jute fibre and 500 tons of cotton have been destroyed by fire on the quayside of the Port of Djibouti, the coastal capital of Afars and Issas.

The fire broke out on 31 August and was caused - according to port officials - by internal fermentation within the bales of fibre which had been stored on the dockside for over two months.

This consignment of jute and cotton was destined for export to Ethiopia. It had waited or shipment at Djibouti, held up by internal strife in Ethiopia, causing delays in its transportation.

Fireman fought the blaze for 24 hours before it was brought under control and fears of its spreading diminished by drenching surrounding areas with water.

A Djibouti fire chief explained that a fire of this kind was inevitable, given the high temperature (60 - 70 degrees centigrade) which the jute and cotton generated during its extended period waiting on the dockside.

A similar fire broke out in February, destroying several hundred tons of jute, also destined for Ethiopia.