UAE | Emergencies
Victims of Sharjah tower fire pick up the pieces
Residents go back to gutted building to salvage whatever they can of their belongings as they move to new accommodation
- By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 February 3, 2012
- Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
- Residents in Al Baker Tower 4 and their helpers face a tough time in bringing down household items from the upper floors of the building that was destroyed in the blaze in Sharjah. Some expatriate families have lost their life savings in the fire.
Sharjah: Families whose apartments were gutted in the Al Baker Tower 4 fire have slowly started to get their lives back on track as they move into new homes and recover from last week's accident.
Yesterday morning, several families went back to their burnt out former homes in the ill-fated tower located in Al Taawun to salvage whatever survived last week's raging flames that partially destroyed the 25-storey building.
While power remained switched off to the building, tenants resorted to hiring professional movers to help them transport their furniture and large electronics items such as washing machines, refrigerators and sofa sets. Flats facing the main road were unscathed, in sharp contrast to the flats at the rear end that were left almost completely charred.
Several tenants told Gulf News that although many families had not found a place to live and were staying with friends, nearly 90 per cent of tenants had either relocated to Dubai or to other buildings in the area.
M.V., an Indian mother of two girls, said she was grateful her flat was located at the front and that she was able to save most of her belongings.
New apartment
"I was able to find another flat in a brand new building right behind Al Baker Tower for a similar rent. The new landlord was sympathetic to my situation and gave us a month free," said M.V., from flat 201, who had only moved in last September.
"I had to throw away my children's clothes, carpets and mattresses as they were damaged by the ash. But I was lucky that I kept most of my furniture covered, because I was worried my daughters would make them dirty. I am also fortunate to still be able to use many of my appliances," she said.
Paying for professional movers further added to costs, though, as they had to pay as much as Dh2,500 to get the furniture out of their two-bedroom flat. The family has managed to move into the new home and is able to close this chapter. M.Vs's daughters, however, aged one and six, continue to feel the stress and anxiety from evacuating the building in a panic.
"My youngest feels it especially, and when she's sleeping she wakes up in a panic and starts crying. I think it's because on the day of the fire, I woke her up in a hurry and startled her," she said.
"Some of my neighbours sent their families back home because they could not afford to keep them here any more, knowing their lives would have to start from scratch. Another neighbour lost his belongings not to the fire, but to the water. When he went back, his entire flat was soaked and everything was completely damaged."
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