Thursday 31 December 2015

Fire engulfs Dubai hotel ahead of new year celebrations

Image result for dubai fire hotel

A huge fire has engulfed a high-rise hotel in central Dubai ahead of a New Year's Eve firework display.
Burning debris could be seen falling from the 300m-tall (1,000ft) building as firefighters tackled the blaze.



The display at the world's tallest skyscraper, the nearby Burj Khalifa, started as planned as midnight arrived in the Gulf state.
Officials say the fire is now under control and 16 people suffered mostly minor injures. The cause is not known.
Up to two million people had been expected in central Dubai for the festivities. Crowds were asked to leave the area around The Address Downtown hotel, which has been evacuated.

Image caption Smoke from the fire could be seen obscuring the view of the illuminated Burj Khalifa
Image result for dubai fire hotel
Flames appeared to rapidly engulf much of the building, a five-star hotel and apartment complex with more than 60 storeys, within 10 minutes.
The Dubai government tweeted that 14 people had suffered minor injuries, one moderate injuries and one heart attack case due to "overcrowding and smoke at the fire site".
The fire had started on the 20th floor, officials said.
The BBC World Service Middle East editor, Sebastian Usher, says the display is a huge prestige event for Dubai, and authorities want the images that people look back on next year to be of the fireworks - and not of the blaze.
A tourist, Michelle Duque told the BBC: "All of a sudden we saw this huge black plume of black smoke coming between the Khalifa Tower and the hotel.
"The flames burst out really big and before we knew it the whole of the Address Hotel was covered in orange flames."
Another tourist told the BBC that she saw lot of debris coming down from the building.

"The problem is millions of people inside the Burj Khalifa cannot move anywhere because we [are] kind of waiting for the fireworks display."

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