Woman becomes sixth victim of Sharjah fire

A woman has died nine days after being injured in a fire in Sharjah.

Salma Babakir, 39, from Sudan, was admitted to Al Kuwaiti Hospital for smoke inhalation on February 19, after a blaze that killed five other people, including two children.

The fire started in an air-conditioning unit in another apartment in the building in Al Abutaina early on Monday last week.

Ahmad Babkir, 48, Mrs Babkir’s husband, said he awoke to screams outside at 3am.

“I thought it was a fight … I smelt fire but hadn’t seen anything yet,” he told The National at the time. He was met with a thick blanket of smoke when he opened the bedroom door.

“I rushed to my sleeping wife, she is asthmatic, and I found that she was almost unconscious. I soaked a piece of cloth in water and covered her face,” said Mr Babakir, who works for the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority.

He said he tried to escape down the stairs but there were no lights and the heat forced him back.

“We couldn’t even make it back to our flat. I heard the screams of an Arab woman and lost consciousness after that,” he said. He woke in hospital.

Mr Babakir is preparing to fly his wife’s body home for burial.

After the fire, Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, ordered that fire alarms be installed in all of the emirate’s buildings.

Seven people were killed in 694 fires in Sharjah last year.

Col Sami Al Naqbi, the director of Sharjah Civil Defence, said most fires there were caused by faulty electrical appliances, overloading power supplies, negligence and damaged electric cables.