A short circuit has been blamed for the fire which destroyed the main warehouse of the Eroski Center Syp supermarket chain in the Marratxi industrial estate in the early hours of yesterday morning. The fire broke out shortly before 4am and firemen battled for more than four hours to bring it under control.
None of the five workers at the warehouse at the time was injured.
The flames spread rapidly because of the high winds, destroying large stocks of groceries and cleaning materials as well as the offices.
The warehouse was completely gutted but director general Santiago Izaguirre said that the value of the material damage had not been evaluated.
The supermarkets in the chain opened for business as usual, although Izaguirre warned that some goods may be in short supply for the next few days.
Warehouse gutted by fire