Evening Café blaze burns down kitchen, staff accommodation

A fire broke out at the Evening Café in Male’ City on Wednesday, resulting in massive damages to the restaurant which opened in 1989 as one of the first Indian food restaurants in Maldives.

Evening Café, in Orchid Magu, Maafannu district, is located on a three-floor building.

The fire originated from the kitchen, and quickly spread to the rest of the building. The kitchen and the staff accommodation were burnt beyond use, while the customer seating areas - located on all three floors - did not sustain much damage.

There have not been any reports of any injuries from official channels.

The fire was reported to Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) at around 06:12 pm. Both soldiers and police were deployed to respond to the fire. People were evacuated from neighboring buildings as a safety measure, with some of the elderly seen evacuated on stretchers.

Soldiers and police urged the crowd gathered in the area to move back to prevent smoke inhalation.

Firefighters managed to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to neighboring buildings.

At around 07:29 pm, MNDF announced that the fire had been controlled.

MNDF said that a full account of the damages to the building can only be known after a full investigation. They are also looking into the cause of the fire.

The latest fire incident comes after a fire broke out at the Neelan Fihaara – an unregulated auction marketplace in Male’ City – on Monday. The fire spread and burned down an accommodation block next door that housed over 200 migrant workers.

On Sunday, a fire burned down one of the buildings of the school in GDh. Fiyoaree, and the day before, a fire broke out at the waste collection point in R. Alifushi.

Police have launched a major investigation into recent fire incidents in Male’ and the atolls. They are being assisted by a team of foreign forensic experts in fire investigations.