Abu Dhabi: Two apartments were destroyed in a fire that broke out at in a 11-storey building in the Tourist Club Area (TCA) on Sunday morning, civil defence officials told Gulf News.
No one was injured in the fire that took fire-fighters about three hours to douse, according to Captain Tariq Al Obaidli of Abu Dhabi civil defence.
The visibly ageing and poorly maintained building is located opposite Abu Dhabi mall close to the Kia motors building.
"The fire erupted around 11 am in a single bedroom apartment on the sixth floor and it spread to a two-bedroom apartment on the seventh floor", he said.
Captain Al Obaidli said that the building was used mostly as a "bachelor accommodation" by single men, mainly blue-collar workers, living without their families.
"Each of the rooms in this building has up to six people living in them. It’s a big risk in terms of fire safety".
All the residents were evacuated from the building and few had to be treated for smoke inhalation at the site itself.
Police will investigate the cause of the fire, he said, adding that it is too early to speculate on it.
However, the watchman of the building said that the fire erupted from the air conditioning unit in the apartment on the sixth floor. "There was so much smoke around. Initially I threw a bucket of water on the fire. But realising the magnitude of the situation I quickly ran out and shut down the power of the building".
The owner of that sixth floor apartment said that no one lived at the place due to an ongoing court case against the landlord.
Fire fighters from six stations at Al Falah, Mina, Bateen, Zaab, Al Madina and Mina road attended to the incident apart from rescue workers.
'Wrongly parked vehicles hinder fire fighting'
"Wrongly parked vehicles hinder fire fighting and could lead to loss of many lives", an Abu Dhabi police traffic official said, as the civil defence and quick intervention teams struggled to reach close to the building where fire erupted on Sunday.
A minivan parked in an illegal spot caused much delay.
In emergency situations, such mistakes create big trouble for us, he said, urging residents to avoid parking at non-designated areas.
