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January 2, 2016

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Probe into New Year blaze at Dubai hotel

Source: AFP | January 2, 2016, Saturday | Print Edition

SMOKE was still rising from a 63-story luxury hotel in Dubai yesterday as authorities tried to determine the cause of a spectacular fire that engulfed the building on New Year’s Eve.

The huge blaze at The Address Downtown Dubai hotel erupted around 9:30pm on Thursday, sparking panic but no reports of serious injuries.

Authorities went ahead with a dazzling fireworks display at the nearby Burj Khalifa — the world’s tallest building — despite the inferno, the latest in a series of fires in recent years to hit the structures that make up Dubai’s futuristic cityscape.

Officials have said the fire erupted from outside the building on its 20th floor but the exact cause was not yet known.

A Dubai security official, General Dahi Khalfan, posted a picture on Twitter of a fire beneath a ledge of the building, saying the start of the blaze had been captured by a police criminal investigation photographer.

“This is where the search begins,” Khalfan wrote of the picture, which appeared to show a lower portion of the building.

Witnesses described scenes of panic after the fire spread, with residents screaming and some fainting as they rushed to evacuate the building.

Still, authorities said only 16 people had been injured.

At least 14 were slightly injured, one was moderately injured and one other suffered a heart attack during the evacuation, the government said.

Roads leading directly to the hotel were closed yesterday but otherwise Dubai city center appeared normal, with passersby stopping to take pictures of the building with their mobile phones.

Dubai residents offered to open their homes to evacuated hotel guests.

“We have sofas, sleeping bags and an endless supply of love. Plus Nutella. You’re not alone. You’re home,” resident Faizan Jamal tweeted.

Many people praised the response of fire and emergency services, pointing to the fact that there were no major injuries, though some questioned whether the New Year’s festivities should have gone ahead.

In an online comment, Sumbal Naqi said: “Bizarre response of authorities in Dubai. Surely fireworks could have waited till tomorrow?”

The Dubai government said evacuated guests were being offered alternative accommodation and provided a telephone number to call for assistance.

It published several videos on its Twitter feed of fireworks erupting around the Burj Khalifa and said the New Year celebration was a testimony to Dubai’s “steadfast commitment to its major projects and initiatives.”

A photographer who was on a 48th floor to take pictures of the fireworks when the fire erupted said he spent a harrowing 30 minutes standing on a ledge outside the building, only meters from the raging blaze.

Unable to escape and afraid he would die of suffocation, he rolled out some 30 meters of heavy-duty cable from a nearby machine used by workers to clean the tower’s windows, attached it to his belt and stepped off the balcony onto a narrow ledge.

“One hour, then that’s it, I’m dead,” he thought as he stood on the ledge. He was eventually saved by rescue workers after calling and texting colleagues.

The Address Downtown hotel, opened in May 2008 and owned by Dubai property giant Emaar’s hospitality group, is the 18th tallest building in the city.

A growing tourist destination, Dubai has become famed in recent years for its distinctive skyline and ambitious building projects, but has suffered from a number of spectacular fires.

In November, a massive blaze engulfed three residential blocs in central Dubai and led to metro services being suspended, although no one was hurt.

In February, a huge fire gutted one of the emirate’s tallest buildings, destroying luxury flats in the Torch tower and triggering an evacuation of nearby blocs in the Dubai Marina neighbourhood.

In 2012, a massive blaze gutted the 34-story Tamweel Tower. It was later revealed to have been caused by a cigarette butt thrown into a bin.

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