Massive Fire Break out in Dubai- Sharjah, Several Injured and 250 Families Displaced

An enormous fire broke out at a residential tower in Al Nahda, Sharjah, on Tuesday night. Several Indian citizens are believed to be living in the building. Out of the 12 injured people, five were rushed to the hospital and the remaining seven were treated on the spot.

Initial reports state that the fire erupted on the 10^th floor of Abbco Tower at 9.04PM and had moved up quickly due to cladding.

The tenants had been evacuated from the 49-story building which consists of 38 residential floors, two floors for services and nine floors for parking. Each floor has 12 flats.

The civil defense workers from stations such as Mina and Al Nahda were rushed to extinguish the blaze after a call to the police operations room.

A major disaster was averted by Sharjah Civil Defense teams. The fire was brought under control two hours after civil defense had arrived at the location. National Ambulance dispatched five vehicles to the scene, an official said.

One side of the building was almost entirely damaged. The blaze saw flames rapidly shoot up the sides of the building like other recent incidents involving flammable cladding.

The fire also damaged a large number of cars parked in the near by areas, it spread rapidly due to the heavy winds. The skyscraper was constructed in 2006, more than 250 families were evacuated from it.

The fire smoldered into Wednesday morning. Firefighters used a ladder truck to spray water into the building, whose cement-block walls stood scorched and exposed after the fire.

Exhausted residents of the fire-hit building came in search of their goods and chattels the next morning. The police officials onsite told them that gaining access to the building was not possible yet.

The cause of the fire has not been determined by the officials. Although, according to the AP reports, UAE and skyscraper-studded Dubai have faced several out-break of fires over the recent years. The building and safety experts say, the root cause of such blazes is the material used for the buildings’ sidings, called aluminum composite panel cladding.