Restaurant may be to blame for fire at Dubai’s Zen Tower
A fire that forced more than 100 residents to flee a Dubai Marina tower on the morning of May 13 and left the building badly damaged began in the kitchen of a business on the ground floor, investigators believe.
Brig Rashid Buflasa, Dubai’s director general of Civil Defence, said an unspecified flammable substance caught alight and the blaze quickly spread to the rest of Zen Tower.
The first five floors appeared to suffer the most damage, although the flames reached the upper floors.
There are several businesses and restaurants on the ground floor and Brig Buflasa said he would not state which was the source of the fire.
Investigations are continuing and a formal cause will be released at a later date.
“High winds helped the fire to spread quickly,” he said.
Ahmed Ahmed, the head of fire investigation at the Dubai Police forensics department, said officers were looking into whether the blaze was caused by carelessness.
Since the fire, dozens of families have been staying in hotels or with friends. Some still don’t know about their apartment’s condition and fear the worst because the blaze cracked most of the windows, allowing smoke to pour in.
Ahmed Mostafa, an Egyptian, told The National last week that he saw flames rising from the base of the building.
“Suddenly the alarm was on, I saw the fire from the window so I ran down the stairs,” he said. “I saw the smoke coming out of the lobby.
“I only worry about my passport, that’s it. Other than that I’m fine, thank God.”
High winds helped the fire to spread quickly. A formal cause will be released at a later date BRIG RASHID BUFLASA Dubai Civil Defence