Sharjah: Two residents of Hafeet Tower 2 where a blaze destroyed 10 apartments on Monday were arrested on charges of causing the fire.
They are two women, an Ethiopian and a Filipina, who live in apartment No 701 and work at the Sharjah International Airport.
“The two women were cooking, left the gas stove on, locked their apartment and went downstairs. While they were downstairs, they saw a blaze on their balcony where they had kept some flammable materials. This helped spread the fire quickly and gutted the building’s cladding panel,” said Abdul Nasser, the building manager.
The building owner will provide temporary accommodation to affected residents, Nasser told Gulf News.
Residents of the tower in Sharjah’s Al Tawun area were evacuated when a fire broke out on the 20th floor. “Residents of the building were evacuated as a precautionary measure as the firefighters doused the blaze,” said Brigadier Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence.
Police and civil defence are investigating the cause of the fire. Officials from the forensic laboratory visited the scene yesterday to determine the cause of the fire.
Building residents told Gulf News that the fire alarm was not working at the time of the blaze.
Temporary shelter
Meanwhile, building manager Abdul Nasser said the owner of Hafeet Tower 2 will provide temporary accommodation to residents.
Brigadier Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director General of Sharjah Civil Defence, said an investigation has been launched to find the cause of the fire, which started at around 2pm on Monday.
Asphyxiation
Five people showed symptoms of asphyxiation and four of them were treated at the scene while a woman was taken to Al Kuwaiti Hospital for treatment, Brigadier Al Suwaidi said.
Officials from the forensic laboratory visited the scene of the incident on Tuesday morning to determine the cause of the fire.
Two residents who stay in apartment No 701 in the tower have been arrested on charges of causing the fire. They are two women, one from Ethiopia and the other from the Philippines, who work at the Sharjah International Airport.
“The two women were cooking, left the gas stove on, locked their apartment and went downstairs. While they were downstairs, they witnessed a blaze in balcony where they had kept some flammable materials. This helped spread the fire quickly and gutted the building’s cladding panel,” Nasser said.
Khalaf Rashid Al Naiyli, the building owner, has instructed his office staff to provide shelter to residents whose apartments were affected in the blaze.
Insurance coverage
“The owner, who stays in Al Ain, came on Tuesday morning and followed up on the condition of the residents and to check their needs. He will compensate them and the insurance will bear the cost of repairing the damaged apartments,” Nasser said.
Four apartments were damaged badly — 501, 601, 701 and 801 — while six apartments need maintenance and cleaning, he added.
Building residents told Gulf News that the fire alarm was not working at the time of the incident. They came to know about the fire from people who were screaming below the building.
All services were restored to the building on Monday night and residents returned to their apartments, Nasser said.
Residents of affected apartments took their keys and will return to their units once maintenance is completed on Wednesday.
