Captains lend a lifeline to worker

Dubai: Abdul Sattar, a Bangladeshi worker (in white overalls in picture sequence above), decided to use a makeshift elevator that ferries labourers when the fire broke out at 12.30pm.

He went down two storeys when the elevator stopped and he was stranded. He could not get back into the tower.

Abdul Sattar saw the fire spreading fast and he feared the worst. Just then Captain Hussain Al Rahoumi, Deputy Director of Civil Defence Centres, along with a captain from Dubai police swung into action.

"We were informed that Abdul Sattar was stranded and could not escape. Rescuers on the ground spotted him," Capt Al Rahoumi told Gulf News.

He and the Dubai police captain took a quick decision: they had to go in. Captain Al Rahoumi said: "We scrambled to the floor where the Bangladeshi worker was trapped. We broke the glass and pulled him into the tower using ropes."