'We don't want to die, please help us'

Dubai: "I got a call from workers inside crying: 'we don't want to die, please help us," said Moataz Khalil, the general supervisor at the constructon site.

Speaking from Dubai Hospital where he was being treated for smoke inhalation, Khalil said the first couple of floors were blocked.

"There was a special lift but the workers could not access it," he said.

He said when he rushed in with Civil Defence officers, the place was engulfed in smoke and there was only darkness. "The staircase from the beginning of the 15th floor was locked and I had to unlock all the doors," he said.

He said they ran up through the fire escape staircase and as they reached the 15th floor, one Civil Defence officer started helping the workers stuck on the higher floors.

"The workers were in a very shaky state. The very brave Civil Defence worker and I tried our best to get everyone out," he said.

"Some of the workers escaped the fire and smoke hanging onto wires outside the building and others were taken by the Civil Defence worker and me to the roof," he said.

The construction of the tower was in its final stages. He said: "We were due to finish in a week or less."