Dubai: Six Asian workers are fighting for their life in hospital after two gas cylinders exploded as they were preparing dinner at their accommodation in Dubai on Sunday night.
The real estate manger of Al Shaffar, a contracting company in Dubai, told Gulf News yesterday that 12 workers of differing nationalities were injured in the explosion in a workers accommodation in Al Quoz area at around 7:30pm.
He said the workers were preparing their dinner when the explosion tore through a kitchen on the second floor and punched a gaping hole into an adjacent room.
“The workers were cooking their dinner and they did not turn on the fan in the kitchen; the stove was near the gas cylinders which caused the fire,” the contracting company official said.
All the injured workers are from India and Bangladesh. They were rushed to Rashid Hospital where six of them have been admitted to the intensive care unit.
The real estate manager added: “I talked to the doctor and he said that their chance of survival is 50 per cent. We thank Allah that no one died in the explosion and we hope that the injured workers will survive.”
Workers who live in nearby accommodations told Gulf News that they heard a huge explosion.
It is understood that the accomodation where the explosion was reported has around 130 rooms and houses about 450-500 people.
“We rushed to see what was going on and we saw fire in the accommodation that belongs to the Al Shaffar contacting company,” one worker said.
Another worker said that civil defence and police rushed to the scene following the blast and a number of workers were taken to hospital.
