Fire-hit tenants back in building
ABU DHABI — The ordeal has not ended for the evacuated tenants of a residential building that was partly gutted in Capital by a late night fire on Saturday.
Many residents said they were forced to return to the building that still has no electricity.
“We were told power would be restored by late afternoon. Now it seems we will have to spend the night without electricity,” Mariam, a resident, said. She said they were asked to vacate the hotel room by afternoon and return to their building.
“I do not know how we can go about our daily business without power. The watchman said water may also run out soon,” she said.
Tenants were evacuated by the Civil Defence forces on Saturday night after fire broke out at 10.11pm in the eighteen-storey building on the airport road. Though the reason for the fire is under investigation, Major-General Jasim Al Marzouqi, Commander-General of the UAE Civil Defence told Khaleej Times that the fire could have erupted from the restaurant at the ground floor of the building.
Owners of the Rukn Al Sultan Restaurant and Grills could not be contacted for a comment.
When Khaleej Times visited the place on Sunday afternoon, mangled and charred aluminium pieces and broken glasses were lying in heaps beside the building where the fire had erupted. Tenants were given temporary accommodation for a night at a city hotel apartment in Al Nahyan area. But by afternoon, many families were back, hoping to find their belongings safe. Residents said they got permission to enter the building after 12pm on Sunday.
“The rooms still smell of smoke. My kitchen window is partly destroyed but I am glad all my belongings are safe,” said Sushma Florence, a medical technician living on the fourth floor. But recounting her ordeal the previous night, Florence said she did not get anything to eat till afternoon.
“I am diabetic and was feeling sick without eating. But there was no money to buy food. I had come out of the building with nothing in my hand,” said Florence.
Roshini Susan who has a threemonth old baby, said she had a harrowing time without breakfast at the hotel. “I even requested them for food as I am breast-feeding. But my pleas fell on deaf ears.”
Many are still confused as whether they are entitled to stay for longer at the hotel rooms.
“Nobody is giving us any information. We really do not know what to do,” said an Indian tenant with family.
The owner of the building, who gave his first name as Ahmed, said it was the police’s responsibility to provide temporary accommodation to tenants. “If people want to stay in their apartments, they can. I am trying to restore power by tomorrow. But I am also running around to finish the police formalities,” said Ahmed.