Children among seven injured in fire

Sharjah: Seven people, including children, were rushed to hospital for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out yesterday in a residential tower near the Discount Centre off the Al Etihad Road here.

Residents said no fire alarm went off when the blaze started around 1.30 pm on the fourth floor of the Al Yasmin Tower. "There was no fire alarm. The corridors were pitch black and the emergency stairs. It was a chaos," said one resident. She said she was lucky to get out of the high-rise unhurt. "Some of the people were vomiting in ambulances."

Eyewitnesses said some tenants on the fourth floor got so panicked that they were ready to jump.

"People were shouting to get a nearby construction crane to take them off the burning floor," she said. The fire engine, however, arrived soon after and rescued the residents with the hydraulic lift. The fire was put out before it could spread further.

Hundreds of people from the 15-storey tower were evacuated and firefighters did not allow them back to the flats till late evening, saying it was still unsafe.

"I was in the washroom when I got a strange smell," said one resident. "I looked out of the window and saw people on the road staring at our building. I opened my front door only to find the corridor black with smoke."

Al Yasmin building is close to the Festival Centre where a blaze broke out last week, triggering a huge traffic jam on the Dubai-Sharjah Road.