Sharjah: Scores of families evacuated from Al Bandary Twin Towers in Sharjah after a fire broke out on Thursday will be given alternative accommodation, officials said.
Around 120 families were evacuated from the 23-storey building on Al Ittihad Road. The fire was brought under control in 75 minutes after Sharjah Civil Defence received the first alert at 11.58am.
The fire started inside an apartment on the 13th floor of Tower “B”, according to Sharjah Civil Defence officials. Flames quickly spread upwards, eating away the aluminium cladding surrounding the building.
Authorities had to close the Dubai-bound section of Al Ittihad Road for motorists’ safety as burning debris were seen falling from the building. The road was partially opened for traffic around 2pm and then fully opened later in the evening.
The cause of the fire is yet to be established.
The Civil Defence team reported no injuries but treated four residents for smoke inhalation. A 75-year-old Indian woman, who was sitting on a wheelchair, was rescued by rescue personnel from the 13th floor where the fire started and taken to a hospital.
Al Bandary Tower is a new building, with tenants moving in only for its first year. Residents observed that the apartments from the 13th floor upward were damaged.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, Director-General of Sharjah Civil Defence, told Gulf News that the cooling operation got under way in the afternoon. The Civil Defence team used recovery vehicles to tow five cars, which were parked below the burning building, away.
“A full investigation will be launched once the cooling process is completed and the building site will be handed over to forensic experts of Sharjah Police [to determine the cause of the fire],” said Lt-Col Al Naqbi.
Major Ahmad Al Merri, Director of Sharjah Community Police, who was on-site, told Gulf News that they called the UAE Red Crescent and Sanid to help the affected families. The damage to apartments will be assessed and they will help families who need accommodation.
Wadhah Al Akar, executive manager of Al Bandary company, told Gulf News that he flew from Doha upon receiving news about the fire.
“It’s our responsibility to provide [alternative] accommodation to the residents,” Al Akar said. “Building “A” is still unoccupied and it has furnished apartments. The 120 families will stay in the furnished apartments till maintenance work is finished in Building “B” and services [power and gas lines] are reconnected.”
When the fire broke out, several residents were still asleep, taking advantage of the holiday on Thursday.
“My family was sleeping when I heard the fire alarm. I went to the balcony and saw smoke. I took my family out of the flat right away. We left everything. We only took our phones,” K. Abbas Ali, who lives on the 15th floor, told Gulf News.
Like Ali, other residents left their belongings behind to scramble to safety. For Mrs Amal, she was able to bring along a few things because she had a “bag for emergencies”.
Residents said the fire alarms went off but no one took it seriously. The building’s caretakers, residents said, would always test the fire alarms so everyone thought it was just a test. Only this time, it was for a real fire.
