'One maintenance worker was covered in flames from head to toe'

Dubai: Witnesses on Monday recounted the horror as they saw one cleaner being electrocuted and another jumping to his death.

The incident occurred when the two cleaners were cleaning the windows on the ninth floor of a building in The Palm Jumeirah, police said.

One worker was electrocuted after there was a short-circuit in the maintenance cradle and he was burned to death. His horrified co-worker panicked and jumped to his death.

A Nakheel spokesperson confirmed the incident and said it occurred at about 10.15am. The spokesperson said the The Palm Jumeirah Civil Defence Permanent Fire Tender was called in.

Police said one of the victims was a Bangladeshi, while the other has not been identified. Dubai Civil Defence received a report of a fire on a maintenance cradle.

Civil defence teams from the Al Quoz Centre arrived and found the two victims dead. The 12-storeyed building is yet to be occupied.

The Nakheel spokesperson said that The Palm Jumeirah Civil Defence Permanent Fire Tender was called within minutes of the incident being reported.

"With deep regret we can confirm that two employees working on the maintenance cradle died as a result of the fire. A full investigation is under way," said the spokesperson. Nakeel, however, were unable to confirm the nationalities of the dead workers.

Horrific scene

An eyewitness, told Gulf News, he saw fire on top of the building and thought the building was ablaze.

"It was sad to learn that what I saw was a burning human body. I cannot forget that scene," he said.

Another eyewitness who worked on same site as a cleaner said that the men who died were on the maintenance cradle and were cleaning the windows from outside the building.

"One worker was covered in flames from head to toe. It was quite a horrific sight. The other worker was shouting for help and eventually plunged to his death," said the eyewitness.

"Those who were standing under the building were shocked and unable to react. Police and Civil Defence were on the scene in no time and the entire area and road leading to The Palm Jumeirah was cordoned off," added the eyewitness.

This is the second fire on the trunk of The Palm Jumeirah this year. The first one took place on May 6 in the basement of a Palm Golden Mile building, which is currently under construction.

Approximately 2,000 workers were then evacuated from the site. One employee working in the vicinity of the building was taken to the nearby Port Rashid Hospital and later discharged following treatment for smoke inhalation.

A fireman was also treated for heat exhaustion at the on-site medical facility.

In yet another unrelated incident, a worker was discharged from Port Rashid Hospital after receiving treatment for a minor fall at a separate site on The Palm Jumeirah.