Dozens injured in Abu Dhabi blaze

Abu Dhabi: At least 67 people, including 14 fire-fighters, were injured in Tuesdays fire atop a building along the Airport road, officials told Gulf News.

Eleven amongst the injured were hospitalised, however, no one suffered from major injuries according to the police.

The fire that erupted on the roof of the 16 storey building trapped dozens of people on the top most floors of the densely populated building.

A wooden shack built illegally on the roof of the building and two apartments on the 15th and 16th floors were gutted.

"It took over hundred firemen more than two hours to put off the flame that began around 12.45 pm", said Colonel Othman Al Tamimi, Director of Emergency Management and Public Safety.

"The fire began from a makeshift home made illegally on the terrace of the building", said Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Al Nuaimi, the head of the Quick Intervention Team of the Abu Dhabi Police.

"Most of the people suffered from excessive smoke inhalation and not burns", he said, adding that all of those who got hospitalised where discharged the same day.

53 injured were treated at two onsite mobile clinics of the police, which basically are buses equipped with patient care facilities.

Initially, two floors were believed to be gutted completely. But officials clarified on Wednesday that the fire was confined to the roof. "It was the smoke that spread to the 15th and 16th floors causing panic amongst residents, Al Nuaimi said.

Civil defence and rescue officials were still seen to be working at the scene in the evening. "It was a small fire but the hurdles ahead of us were big, delaying the operations. The main issue was the situation of the building. It is old, without proper alarm system or warning mechanisms", he explained.

The number of residents in the building was also very high, he said.

"The terrace is only meant for essential services such as water tanks, air conditioning vents or so. But wooden roofs were built here instead which made it hard to contain the fire".

"Since the incident occurred on the middle of the day, many victims and members of our team were fasting, which lead to heat exhaustion."

Police cordoned off close by areas while the injured were taken to the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) for treatment.

Quick intervention teams from two stations, fire-fighters from four Civil Defence stations, paramedics and ambulances from Emergency and Safety Department and two mobile clinics took part in the rescue operation.

Besides this, three helicopters also took part. One helicopter belonging to the army and another belonging to the police rescued one and two persons respectively. The third chopper transmitted live images aid civil defence operations.