One of the world’s tallest residential towers in Dubai’s Marina district, has in the early hours of today, Saturday, February 21, 2015 gone up in flames razing several floors and leaving thousands of persons scampering for safety.
According to the Dubai Civil Defense, no casualties were recorded in the inferno and the fire was doused out within three hours.
What led to the fire outbreak which started around 2 a.m in the 79-storey building is yet to be ascertained.
A witness, Leah Polonenko who filmed the incident said the fire started when several residents were out.
At least four nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution, Polonenko said.
According to CNN, hundreds of people, many of them evacuated residents, were in the street while emergency crews were on the scene.
A 30-year-old resident of a nearby building, Jaime Muellertold CNN he was watching a movie when he saw the fire.
“We went to the balcony, then it was one side of the building (that) was burning,” Jaime Mueller, 30, told CNN by phone.
“We went downstairs and a lot of people were watching,” he said. “Then we saw another piece of fire fall, and it started the fire on the other side.”
The arc-shaped Dubai Marina is a popular and crowded residential area that has been developed rapidly in the past decade.
