Wednesday 09 / July / 2025
Muscat: Drive or walk past the well-known Dhofar Building in Ruwi these days, and you are almost certain to find a crowd of people gathered on the other side of the road.
If you’re wondering why they’re there, you only need to look in the same direction as them: three evenings ago, on Friday, 11 February, Dhofar Building went up in flames shortly after 6pm.
Emergency services from the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority arrived just 10 minutes after the fire began, but despite their best efforts, they were unable to save the shops and the merchandise within from being reduced to little more than cinders.
“Go inside our shops, and you will find not even a single thread unburnt,” said one of the many shopkeepers outside, waiting for news on what caused the fire which is still being investigated.
Dhofar Building was at one time home to more than 60 shops that primarily sold clothes, toys, readymade garments, household goods, sports equipment and computer parts. However, a rather gloomy combination of people looking to do their shopping elsewhere, the economic downturn and the impact of COVID-19 have halved the number of businesses operating within.
“We do not know what we will do now…our livelihoods went up in that fire,” said a distraught shopkeeper waiting outside for results of the investigation. “Some shops are insured, so at least there is some hope for their owners, but others are uninsured, so we don’t know what the future will bring.
“We hope that the Almighty will be able to help us during these difficult times,” he added. “Things were already bad for us: The economic downturn affected our business, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact worsened it and now this fire has completely ended our hopes of revitalising our businesses.”
“This fire to us is like tragedy on top of misfortune,” he said. “We must put up a brave face on the outside, but inside, I am crying. All of us are. Because of poor business, many of the shopkeepers packed up and left. Before leaving, some decided to merge their shops with the ones next to theirs, but overall, business has steeply fallen in recent times.”
Apart from the 60 or 70 shopkeepers who work in Dhofar Building, the mixed-use complex is also home to more than 100 people who live on the upper floors, including some 80 people from the Ruwi branch of a chain of department stores, which is located just a few minutes away.
In the short time that the firefighters took to arrive at the scene of the blaze, the shopkeepers as well as most of the residents above were able to successfully evacuate the premises. There were some, however, whose path of escape had been blocked by the blaze and the accompanying smoke. They were instructed to move to the left side of the building, which had remained relatively unburnt because the winds that fanned the blaze took the flames to the other side of the complex.
A few others went up to the roof to stay safe. CDAA personnel used hydraulic ladders to reach them and bring them back to the ground. About 10 people suffered injuries. Eight of them were administered first aid on the ground, two more required hospitalisation.
Understandably, during and in the immediate aftermath of the fire, Dhofar Building and its surrounding areas were swarming with personnel from CDAA, who were painstakingly sifting through the wreckage of the fire, while inspecting the damage the angry flames had caused, while Royal Oman Police patrols worked to cordon off civilian vehicle access to the site.
Emergency service teams from Muscat Electricity Distribution Company were also on hand to provide support relating to electricity supply, as and when it was needed.
It was, in many ways, a sorry sight for what had once been one of the most well-known buildings in Ruwi, where many used to come, primarily on the weekends, to buy from the merchants who had no shortage of takers for their wares.
To provide some measure of comfort, CDAA officials also offered food to all the shopkeepers who anxiously waited outside for news about their shops and their livelihoods.
As firefighters selflessly braved the flames, they also took measures to protect those in the surrounding buildings.
“We were asked to stay inside our shops and not come out, because the extent of the damage and the risk of the fire spreading was not yet known,” said a cafeteria worker who manned a shop on the other side of the street.”
“Our shop was closed on Friday evening, but the moment we heard of the fire, we rushed here to see if everything was okay,” said an employee at a store opposite Dhofar Building that sold computer parts.
“However, the police did not let us enter the street, so we went back home. We came back the next day and although our side of the street was safe, all of us are obviously saddened by what has happened to the shopkeepers that we have known for so long.”
While the company that houses their staff in the building is working to find them alternate accommodation, many of the other residents have temporarily been put up by friends and relatives. Others have decided to stay in nearby hotels until they have updates on the condition of their homes.
To one of the shopkeepers, the fire represented a double blow of misfortune: “I had a readymade garments store in the building and lived a couple of floors up,” he said. “I have lost my shop and am unable to enter my home. I cannot say anything about the future right now. Only time will tell what lies ahead.”
To gain further clarity on the steps that will be taken once the impact of the fire has been assessed, Times of Oman did attempt to speak to the sponsors of some of the shopkeepers. They were, however, too upset to comment.
“I will speak when I am able to…now, I am in no condition to talk to anyone,” said one of the sponsors.
