JEDDAH: A fire broke out in Jeddah's historic Al Balad district, engulfing at least three buildings in the wee hours of Wednesday.

According to sources, up to ten rescue teams were employed to douse the fire, while the rescue workers were evacuating the occupants of the buildings and clearing the area.

While talking to the media, district official of Al Balad mentioned that the affected buildings were the Al-Qumsani, Al-Ashmawi and Abdel-Aal, adding that Civil Defense firefighters contained 80 percent of the fire at around 10 pm, while the Al-Qumsani building might collapse due to excessive damage from the fire.

Al-Balad is the historic centre of Jeddah, the primary gateway to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

No casualties were reported, while the authorities start looking to determine the cause of the fire.