Residents of Kuwait Tower and adjacent areas are still waiting for the blaze to be extinguished to see whether any of their friends or relatives are missing in the late evening inferno that charred the Kuwait Tower building on the Sharjah–Ajman road.
The fire injured six people and destroyed everything from passports to household items, furniture, gold and other items kept by the residents in their homes. Preliminary reports say there are no casualties, although six people have been confirmed as injured.
The fire, which broke out late yesterday afternoon, raged through the night. A pillar of the tower reportedly exploded and the blaze was fed by wooden cupboards and strong winds. The civil defence team used cranes to rescue a young Indian woman who was waving from the 13th floor. A helicopter was also used to airlift six of the affected victims, with one woman still in a serious condition in Kuwait hospital.
Some residents were planning their summer vacation, while some have already left. As the 20-plus year-old building has lower rent compared to new buildings in the area, it was 100 per cent occupied. Families living in four other adjacent high-rise buildings had to sleep outside because electricity was disconnected from their buildings as part of the fire fighting exercise. Many residents in the neighbourhood will not be working on Wednesday as they had spent a sleepless night without electricity. Emergency workers were still trying to diffuse fire from top of the adjacent buildings early today.
Kuwait Tower residents told Emirates Business 24-7 that many had a narrow escape and had left behind all their valuables. Jabbir T P, who works for Al Ruwaishid Grocery, on the ground floor of Kuwait Tower said: “Most of the families have lost almost everything. There are six double-room flats on each floor. Residents are mostly families of expatriate professionals like doctors, engineers, accountants from India, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. The majority are Keralites and the men were mostly in the office. The family members who were inside the flats were alerted by the fire alarm.” Jabbir, a water supplier and colleagues had to spend the whole night on a trailer parked in the area. “Even before the Civil Defence and Police arrived, we have volunteered to rescue trapped residents who were waiving from their balaconies. An old Egyptian man was rescued by his son from flat number 1103 after broking a fibre-glass window,” he added.
The blaze charred almost all household items –fridge, television sets, computers, furniture, clothes, documents, ornaments, especially in flats located on the front side facing the main road and left side. Some of the flats located on the rear side of the building weren’t badly affected.
An Indian family of five, an elderly mother, young woman and two children aged five and three who were living on the 12th floor had a narrow escape.
“Four of them heard an explosion and rushed out of the room. There was fire and smoke everywhere and they just got into the lift and managed to reach the ground floor. Fortunately, the lift did not get stuck,” said a family member.
Within ten minutes the entire building was engulfed in flames. They could not take anything with them.
An elderly woman who lived on upper floors also had a narrow escape. “There was smoke and a big fireball in front of me. I used the staircase to come down,” she said.
A housewife who was sleeping realised that the building was on fire only when her husband called her on her mobile.
The Fresh Chicken outlet, Al Ruwaishid Grocery and the Al Zahmak studio on the ground floor are also affected by the falling debris and fire. “We don’t know whether our grocery is fully damaged.
The family of Cosmos Suresh, an Indian Engineer, completed shopping and kept everything including our passport, cash, gold and everything that we purchased for our relatives.”
Mohammed Nasir Hassan had arrived in the UAE from Bangladesh just two days ago to work as a watchman. Says his brother Mohammed Bilal Hussain: “We are terribly upset. I am living in an adjacent building and the fire reached our balcony, but the civil defence could control it. Within ten minutes, the entire building was on fire. We have taken out our passports and bag and came out. At night we had to live outside as electricity was disconnected.”
Sayyed Ayad Hussain, a driver living in an adjacent building also had to sleep outside. “We could not sleep because electricity was disconnected from our building. Many families too had a tough night outside.”
IMAGE GALLERY: Massive fire at Sharjah residential tower
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