The Egyptian government on Wednesday launched an investigation into the cause of a fire, which broke out Tuesday afternoon in the parliament building, and is ruling out the possibility of arson or criminal-motivated sabotage.

No indications showed that there were any criminal motives behind the fire that left a fireman dead and at least 15 others injured, the official MENA news agency reported.

The tragedy could be caused by the maintenance works that have been going on in the building as of July, MENA quoted a reliable security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Wednesday, Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el-Adli inspected the premises of the Shura Council and ordered to swiftly find out the cause of the fire.

Terming the accident as a tragedy, Adli said security services are ruling out sabotage or any criminal act.

At about 5:30 PM (1430 GMT) on Tuesday, a huge fire broke out in the three-storey building of the Egyptian Shura Council (upper house of the parliament) in downtown Cairo.

It took the emergency services almost the whole night to put out the blaze, which destroyed the third floor of the building.

Up to now, the exact cause of the fire remains unclear. Earlier reports expected that it was caused by an electric short circuit.

An Egyptian firefighter has died in the operation to extinguish the fire that gutted parts of the 19th century building, the authorities announced on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, medical sources said all 15 people injured in the fire, including 10 firemen and five employees of the Shura Council, have been discharged from hospital after receiving treatments.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)