Fire in Al Buraimi sparks traffic jam in Al Ain
Traffic was blocked across the border and police were not letting vehicles cross into Al Buraimi
Al Ain: A fire that broke out in Al Buraimi province in Oman caused a traffic jam in Al Ain on Monday.
Residents woke up to thick black clouds covering the skies on Monday.
The clouds were slowly moving in a south-east direction and a strong smell of burning rubber was everywhere, but the streets were devoid of police and fire-brigade sirens.
Traffic was blocked across the border and police were not letting vehicles cross into Al Buraimi. Eyewitnesses said many school buses were also stuck in the traffic jam.
"Al Buraimi police were allowing only outbound traffic and most of the students, who come every day to their schools in Al Ain, used their own transport to reach the schools," an eyewitness said.
It looked like a huge fire for many Al Ain residents including Zuhoor Ahmad, who was standing near the Al Ain bus station at around 5am, guessing like dozens of others what was burning and where.
A few kilometres away in the Omani border town, firefighters were struggling to put out the fire.
According to witnesses, the blaze started around 5am and quickly spread to nearby shops and structures.
It took almost five hours for firefighters to control the blaze. No casualties were, however, reported. The thick black smoke and the smell of burning rubber polluted the environment in Al Ain city that is located just 200 metres from the UAE-Oman border.
