Dubai: Three workers died in a massive blaze that ripped through a warehouse at Al Quoz Industrial area 3 on Sunday morning, a Dubai Civil Defence spokesperson said, adding that negligence and a failure to follow safety instructions after the fire started led to the fatalities.
The blaze erupted at a private factory warehouse at 4.53 am. The workers who died were sleeping at the time. “Firefighters arrived at 5:04 am and the blaze spread to two other warehouses full of clothes and different flammable materials. Three workers were burned to death inside the warehouse,” the Civil Defence spokesperson added.
Lieutenant Rashid Bin Dahroi from Dubai Civil Defence’s Al Quoz station led the firefighters and brought the blaze under control at 8:58 am.
However, an alarm about the three missing workers was only raised by one of their colleagues at 10:40 am. Once firefighters were informed, they recovered the bodies of the three workers, which were found on their burnt beds.
About 14 fire tenders and 53 firefighters from Al Rashidiya, Al Barsha and UAE martyrs stations were involved in the firefighting mission and contained the blaze under the supervision of Colonel Hussain Al Rahomi, from Dubai Civil Defence.
Brigadier Rashid Khalifa, Assistant General Director for Fires and Rescue at Dubai Civil Defence, cautioned people about the dangers of violation of instructions issued by the Civil Defence. In this case, the three victims were allowed to stay in the warehouse in clear violation of the Civil Defence rule disallowing workers from using office premises as residential quarters, which ultimately resulted in their death.
“It is important to follow safety instructions to save lives and properties including providing accommodation to the workers in their labour camps. We have advised against the use of warehouses as accommodations for workers,” Brigadier Khalifa said.
He added that such negligence had caused the death of many workers in recent years.
The site was handed over to forensics experts from Dubai Police to ascertain the origin and cause of fire and collect evidence.
