Fire breaks out at Grand Royal Distillery again

by Kyaw Kha
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 13:22

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – For the second time, a fire broke out at about noon on Monday at the famous liquor and wine producers, the Grand Royal Distillery in Hlegu Township of Rangoon Division.

This time the fire broke out in the fuel store where paddy husk and corn-cob are kept, local residents said. On Saturday, two liquor distilling containers exploded in the factory precincts.

“The fire is still smouldering where the paddy husk and corn-cob is stored. It cannot be extinguished easily as there are stocks of such fuel in the warehouse to last between one and two years. The fire started after the explosion in the distillery and is still smouldering today. Now there is a fresh fire broke in the fuel storage house,” a local resident in Hlegu told Mizzima yesterday.

A woman from the Hlegu Fire Brigade told over telephone that there were no fire-fighters at their station as all of them have gone out in two fire engines.

Though the fire was not severe, the one on Saturday damaged almost the entire distillery and killed four people. Many were injured and admitted to the Rangoon General Hospital, local residents said.

But yesterday's ‘New Light of Myanmar’, reported that the fire lasted over five hours and killed three people and injured six. The Fire Department sent 47 fire engines, 10 control room vehicles and over 200 fire-fighters to fight the blaze, the paper said.

The duty officer at the Emergency Ward in the Rangoon General Hospital, when contacted over telephone, said the wounded patients were being treated and declined to give details as he was not authorized to answer such queries.

The fire destroyed many vehicles and machinery in the distillery such as cars, and tractors with trailers, machinery and equipments, the canteen and five other private shops.

This distillery controls the lion’s share of the domestic market of up to over 80 per cent with its most famous product the Grand Royal Whisky (black label) produced by the International Beverages Trading Co. Ltd.

Other famous products from this company are Special Reserve Grand Whisky (gold label), Eagle Whisky, Heather Gate Whisky, Royal Special London Dry Gin and London Rum.