Dubai : The smell of perfume mixed with the putrid stench of burned human flesh hangs in the air as you step inside Afnan Perfume's warehouse in Al Quoz - the site of Dubai's worst fire disaster in recent years in terms of casualties.
An aluminium ladder that led to an upstairs room is the only thing left standing - a witness to the inferno that killed 11 Asian workers living in the factory that went up in flames just after midnight on Tuesday.
Charred cardboard and paper are strewn on the ground along with dozens of perfume bottles.
A two-burner stove and a gas cylinder remain untouched while pots and pans are scattered near what appears to be a makeshift kitchen where the victims may have cooked their last supper.
Burnt warehouse material stand next to the blackened walls of the factory while its tin roof hangs from what has remained of the steel frame. A fire extinguisher sits unused, atop charred wood.
Officials said the workers were being housed in the factory illegally and have arrested three people, the company manager, an Emirati, and two Indian partners.
"The victims were probably asleep when the fire broke out," said Dubai's Acting Police Chief Major General Khamis Al Mazeina.
Meanwhile confusion reigned over the identities of the victims. While a news agency quoted Maj Gen Al Mazeina as saying the victims included nine Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Pakistani, media reports said six Indians, four Bangladeshis and one Pakistani perished in the fire.
They all probably died of suffocation as the fire broke out while they were asleep,
Probe continues
Police said their forensic experts are looking into the cause of the blaze.
Dubai has seen 349 fires in the first six months of this year. Last year, the forensics department investigated 658 fires - 256 vehicle fires, 374 fires in homes and offices, 20 gas explosions, five electric shocks, and three gas leaks.
