Sharjah: Hundreds of people ‘trapped’ in a fire were ‘rescued’ from Al Jubail Market in Sharjah during a mock fire drill, officials said on Monday.
Two of them, who were supposed to be injured in the fire, were provided with necessary medical treatment.
The drill was carried out by Civil Defence, Sharjah Police, traffic department and national ambulance.
It was carried out to judge the ability of the Civil Defence personnel and the emergency teams of all the other related departments to respond swiftly in the event of a fire in a big and crowded premises, said Major Mohammad Salem Al Tunaiji, head of operations planning at Sharjah Civil Defence.
“The drill was also held to judge the level of cooperation between related departments in any emergency and to make the officials of various emergency teams aware of their responsibilities in an emergency situation, especially in such crowded place,” he said.
The drill had been successful as all the units responded well.
He said the department was carrying out such drills in hotels, factories, hospitals and schools as each of these required a special technique.
These drills help the department to identify weak links and avoid them in future, he said.
Meanwhile, Captain Mesh’al Al Hindasi, director of operations branch at Sharjah police stations, thanked all departments which participated in the drill, which achieved its objectives.
The drill tested the speed of response of police patrols, ambulances and Civil Defence vehicles, and also judge how employees of Jubail market are familiar with evacuation techniques and their behaviour during the fire.
