Dubai: Guests of the Address Downtown, which suffered from a fire hours before New Year’s Eve celebrations, are being accommodated at other hotels in the emirate, including at the St Regis and Atlantis, The Palm.
Sixteen people were affected by Thursday’s fire; 14 of them suffered minor injuries, one sustained moderate injuries, and one man suffered a heart attack during evacuation.
Jonathan Howard, 48, Australian and a Dubai resident, had booked a room at the Address Downtown months ahead of the New Year’s Eve, so he, his wife and a friend, could enjoy the New Year’s show.
“We were sitting in the room’s balcony on the 12th level, with the view of the fountain,” he said.
Howard had sent a photo of the three of them sitting in the balcony to a friend. That friend pointed out that something was falling behind them. It was around 9.20pm.
“He said it looked like sand. When we checked, we noticed it was debris falling from a fire that was a few floors above us. It was still small, so we grabbed our laptops and phones and left,” he said.
“We left early, and everything was organised, they were helping people get out,” Howard said.
He said they walked a long route to Shaikh Zayed Road, where they took a taxi and went home.
Simon Marouf, a 30-year-old painter from Syria who rented an apartment in the building, said that they have been taken care of and accommodated at the St. Regis Hotel in Dubai.
“They are providing us with everything and doing all they can to make us comfortable. I am thankful that we all got out safely and no one was hurt,” he said.
Marouf was looking forward to a nice evening with his friends, who were visiting from Germany, and his brother and his brother’s fiance, when the fire broke out.
“My apartment is on the 56th floor, we were unaware of the fire because it was on the other side of the building. Luckily, one of my friends, when she went to the washroom, heard the alarm,” he said.
He said he initially thought it was a routine drill because he could not see any smoke.
“On our way down there were very few people, but when we got to the lower floors, we ran into some people, they were in panic and pushing and my brother — who had a recent surgery — fell. But thankfully we are all okay,” he said.
He said the police has closed access to the building and he does not know what has happened to his home.
A spokesperson of The Address told Gulf News: “The fire in the hotel has been contained. We would like to express our gratitude to the authorities for their immediate and professional support. An investigation is ongoing and details will be provided once they are ascertained.”
Adding that all of their guests and employees were safely evacuated. “Guests have been provided with alternate accommodation in various hotels in Dubai. We are sincerely thankful to these hotels for their support and cooperation.”
“We have also set up a hotline number and email id for the guests, and have a dedicated team assigned for them,” the statement said.
“Our top priority is the well-being of our guests and colleagues. We are working round-the-clock to ensure that.”
