Family plucked from burning Abu Dhabi building

Abu Dhabi: Residents blamed inadequate fire safety measures at a shop for a fire accident in their building in Abu Dhabi.

At least 10 people have been injured and about 12 families, mostly Indians and Arabs, have been evacuated from the three story building following the fire late Friday evening.

A resident said the fire erupted from a packed furniture shop in the ground floor of the building.

"This is the second time it happened, a minor fire had erupted from the same furniture shop about eight months ago," said the resident who did not want to be named.

"The shop is crammed and houses a large number of goods which are even placed on the corridors of the building," said another resident.

The residents praised the Quick Intervention Team (QIT) of Abu Dhabi Police which rescued a couple and their baby by using a crane from the third floor of the building.

Kamesh Srinivasan, an Indian architect, said the QIT men reached his apartment on the crane when he and his wife were waving their hands through the windows, asking help.

"We didn't have an exit as the corridor was full of smoke, my baby would have suffocated if they hadn't come," said Srinivasan. "They also rescued an old sick lady from the first floor," he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Al Nuaimi, head of the Quick Intervention Team, told Gulf News: "Fire only gutted the ground floor of the building which has few shops, and was contained quickly. But smoke was the main problem."