Sharjah: Five people were killed in the fire that broke out in a residential tower in Al Nahda, Sharjah on Thursday, according to Sharjah Civil Defence and Police officials.
Major General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, expressed his deep condolences to the families of those who died as a result of the fire, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
He said the deceased include an Indian man and woman, one woman from the Philippines, a Kenyan man and a Bangladeshi man.
Maj Gen Al Shamsi said that the Sharjah Police Operations Room first received the fire alert at 10:50pm and accordingly, teams were dispatched to the area. The fire was contained immediately but the rising smoke led to suffocation and the death of five people.
As many as 17 other cases involving suffocation were reported and the victims are undergoing treatment while 27 cases were discharged from the hospital after receiving the necessary treatments in total.
156 residents of the building were given temporary hotel accommodations in Sharjah, Maj Gen Al Shamsi said.
