Glitzy skyscraper up in flames
– Panicked residents fled one of the tallest towers in the glitzy Gulf city state of Dubai early yesterday after a fire ripped through it – the second blaze to hit the skyscraper in as many years.
Authorities said no casualties were reported from the blaze which erupted in the middle to upper floors of The Torch, once the tallest residential development in the world.
The 337-metre tower was the scene of a 2015 inferno that causead extensive damage to its luxury flats and triggered an evacuation of nearby blocks in the seafront Marina neighbourhood.
Dubai authorities said firefighters arrived at the scene within four minutes of the blaze.
Residents were immediately evacuated.
Dubai’s civil defence authority said it started on the 65th floor of the luxury tower block.
An AFP correspondent saw torched vehicles in the block’s car park and extensive fire damage to the middle and upper storeys of the left side of the building.
“We thank God that there were no casualties because of the efforts of all teams on the ground,” Dubai police commander Major General Abdullah Khalifa al-Marri said. “The residents were evacuated from this building to another one and there were no injuries.”
In January, Dubai announced tougher rules to minimise fire risks after a series of tower blazes, mostly due to flammable material used in cladding, a covering or coating used on the side of the buildings.
In November 2015, fire engulfed three residential blocks in central Dubai. No one was hurt.
On New Year’s Eve that year, 16 people were injured when a fire broke out in a luxury hotel. – AFP