Six apartments gutted in Sharjah tower fire

Sharjah: A fire broke out on Monday night at a residential building in Al Ta'awun.

It gutted six apartments and severely damaged four vehicles in the parking lot.

The fire started on the first storey and extended to apartments up to the seventh floor. No causalities were reported, according to Sharjah police officials. Tenants of the building were evacuated and instructed to wait in the open area until the fire was extinguished.

Although the 22-storey building was installed with fire protection equipment, it was not functioning and had not been maintained properly, according to a senior official at Sharjah Civil Defence.

Colonel Al Mazloum, Director of Sharjah Police operation room supervised the operation and said that Sharjah Police received a call informing them about the fire at 9.30pm.

A civil defence team was dispatched immediately and cordoned off the area. They evacuated the building to ensure the safety of residents. He stressed that the cause of the fire is still unknown and an investigation has been launched to find its cause.