A huge fire ripped through a regional police headquarters in the Egyptian city of Ismailia before dawn on Monday, gutting the building and leaving at least 45 people injured. 

The authorities said they had launched a probe into the cause of the blaze that destroyed the Security Directorate building in the city 110 kilometers northeast of Cairo. 

Several people could be seen trapped inside the burning building, screaming for help from the windows, in video footage shared on social media, and emergency crews were later seen deploying a crane to rescue them. 

No fatalities have been reported from the at least eight-story tall building that was fully staffed with police when it was engulfed by flames overnight. 

Fifty ambulances rushed to the scene, joined by two army planes and military emergency services, according to the health ministry and local media. Crowds of onlookers flocked to the base of the building as the flames raged through it, sending black smoke billowing into the night sky. 

Twelve people were treated at the scene, the health ministry said, and 33 more were taken to hospitals in Ismailia and nearby Suez, according to the public prosecutor's office.

(Cover: Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a police facility in Ismailia, Egypt, October 2, 2023. /CFP)