A woman was hospitalised with minor injuries from the incident that took place at around 8.45am.

A ground floor occupant of the building told Muscat Daily that the fire started in the kitchen of the basement apartment.

'It spread in no time. My husband and two children were asleep when the fire started. As I saw it spread to our floor I ran to wake them up and just about managed to save our passports and marriage certificate' the Filipino occupant said.

Her entire apartment has been gutted. 'All other things including wallet cash residence cards etc have been lost.'

There was not much damage to the top floor which was engulfed in smoke.

Most of the occupants in the building are Filipino expats.

Teams from the Public Authority from Civil Defence and Ambulances took around two hours to control the blaze.