n Bahrain, the Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has ordered an immediate probe into the blaze which gutted the Isa Town Souq in the capital Manama on Sunday.

Nearly 450 shops were completely destroyed and goods worth hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost in the major fire. No casualties have been reported in the incident.

Firemen took more than five hours to bring the blaze under control. The fire broke out last evening at one store and quickly spread to the rest of the market, causing traders to flee with whatever they could salvage.