A hotel apartment building in the Chinese Cluster of the International City remained cordoned off on Sunday afternoon as Dubai Police officials were on the scene for further inspection after the deadly fire on Saturday evening.
When Khaleej Times visited the site, police officials and the building’s security guard were stationed outside the building, not allowing the residents to go into their apartments due to safety and security reasons.
Authorities evacuated the entire building after a fire on Saturday night and many residents were still waiting outside for further instructions. Drones and helicopters were also deployed in order to evaluate the fire and help the fire-fighting teams to put out the flames.
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One person died and two sustained serious injuries in the fire that broke on the upper floors of the eight-storey building. They were occupied by expats from several nationalities including Africans, Chinese, Indians and Pakistanis. The fire was successfully contained immediately. The building houses around 12 apartments on each floor.
“I was taking a shower when the fire broke out. I realised it was smoke within our apartment. Then one of my flatmates came and informed us about the fire. Then we banged on other flatmates’ doors and rushed out of the building. Many people successfully managed to get out in time. I saw parents running out, carrying their children. Thank God, it didn’t happen at night because most of the people would have been sleeping,” said an Indian national, who was residing in the building.
“We are waiting outside as residents are not allowed to go back into the building,” he said, asking to be unnamed.
When Khaleej Times contacted the hotel apartment, the spokesperson said it was fully booked and they’re not taking any bookings.
Saving dozens
Sadiq, a resident of the hotel apartment, was a hero to residents yesterday, after he saved dozens of lives.
“I went up and down twice to make tenants aware of the fire and evacuate them. I lost my balance and fell three times due to smoke in this whole episode. I knew around 40 people who were living in the building and rescued dozens of them. I came down from the seventh floor, knocking on the doors of the residents who were my acquaintances. Within a few seconds, the entire floor was engulfed in smoke. In the second attempt, I could go to the fourth floor only to rescue people,” the Indian national told the Khaleej Times in an interview.
“When I came out of the building, my face was a bit dark due to the smoke. I was having a burning feeling in my nose and eyes and it was getting difficult to breathe.”
He said some people were going back to the top floor to get their wallets, but discouraged them not to risk their lives as it was getting intense. “Humanity should come first for all of us.”
He added that the deceased was a lady from an African country who used to come to his apartment for cleaning.
Rescued by cranes
Dubai Media Office late on Saturday shared a video of a resident, who looked dazed and confused, being evacuated from the building by rescue workers.
Residents of the buildings and eyewitnesses hailed police, rescue and civil defence teams for their incredible efforts in saving the lives of dozens of people.
“One person climbed down the building’s pipe. Another person and two children standing on the balcony waiting for help were rescued by the cranes deployed by the rescue teams. An Indian girl who was finding it difficult to stand on the balcony due to heat and smoke emanating from the building was rescued just in time,” said Babu, a Nepalese national who witnessed the incident.
Since it was the weekend, many of the residents were at home in the afternoon.
“The fire broke out on one of the upper floors at around 4pm. The authorities did a fantastic job, using all resources like helicopters, drones fire-fighting vehicles and cranes to save the lives of the residents,” said Amjad Ali, a Pakistani national who was living in the nearby building.