Naif Souq will be rebuilt

Dubai: Municipality will rebuild Naif Souq, which was completely gutted by a massive fire, said an official at the Markets Sections of the civic body.

"The civic body will also hold its own administrative investigation to gauge the environmental damage created by the fire incident and its negative impact before starting the rebuilding procedure," said the official.

Naif Souq was one of the oldest markets and a popular haunt among both residents and tourists.

The souq was known in the past as the Box Souq, which was renovated by the Dubai Municipality in the '80s. The souq received a huge number of visitors all sections of society and different nationalities.

Bargain shops in the souq offered mostly textile and ready made garments at a competitive rate compared to big modern shopping malls.

Traffic changes

A number of roads leading to Naif Souq were closed to facilitate the police and civil defence emergency teams access to the fire

"The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Emergency Team closed the roads leading to the blaze area to protect road users," said Hussain Al Banna,Head of the RTA's Emergency Team. He said the timing of traffic light signals in the area was modified to ease movement for motorists.