Dubai Marina Torch Tower Engulfed By Flames for Second Time
Local Editor
A fire that engulfed an externally clad residential tower in the United Arab Emirates' world-famous Marina in Dubai was under control early on Friday morning, officials said.
Meanwhile, civil defense officials said they successfully evacuated the 337-meter skyscraper, which has 676 apartments.
Onlookers filmed the blaze at the Torch Tower, one of the world's tallest residential building which has 86 floors and is home to many foreign residents. It had been damaged in a fire in 2015.
Video footage posted on social media showed flames spreading up the building and burning debris falling down.
A statement from the Dubai Media Office said: "The fire at the Torch Tower has been brought under control. Cooling operations are under way. No injuries have been reported." Officials said they were working on providing shelter for those affected.
It was not clear what caused the fire. A Dubai police spokesperson told Gulf News that it broke out on the ninth floor and spread to the upper floors. Civil defense and police went to the scene.
Another witness, John O'Nolan, tweeted as he filmed the blaze from across the marina.
Several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates have caught fire in recent years, including a 63-storey luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year's Eve in 2016. In that blaze, as in others in Dubai in recent years, people escaped without major injury.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
