Four detained over Deira fire

Police yesterday detained an Emirati and three Indians in connection with a devastating fire that resulted in the death of 11 workers and destroyed an overcrowded villa complex in Naif Souq on Tuesday morning.

Fifteen others were injured in the building known as Khajura complex that housed over 500 people, including construction and semi-skilled workers from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Many were charred beyond recognition.

Bachelor accommodation

According to a top police officer, the Emirati owner had rented the building to an Indian who rented it to another Indian. This man in turn converted it into dozens of tiny bachelor accommodations, the officer said.

The fire started on the ground floor at around 5.15am on Tuesday and the police believe some workers, who were preparing breakfast, left the gas valve open, causing an explosion. The police found 15 cylinders in the villa, but they did not rule out a short circuit as the cause of the fire. There are signs that the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) meters were tampered with, another officer stated.

Ten of the dead hailed from Karimnagar district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, while one worker was from Bangladesh.

Indian Consul General Venu Rajamony and R.K. Raina, Consul for Labour and Welfare, visited the site yesterday. Raina said assistance would be provided to send bodies home after identification. "In cases where bodies cannot be identified, the process will be longer, as DNA testing would be required," he said.

The consulate has also made arrangements to provide shelter to 46 illegal workers before they are sent home.

Meanwhile, construction worker K. Tukanna, 45, was waiting yesterday to claim the charred body of his 21-year-old son Sanjeev.

"He didn't get out of the room. He's gone. But I need to see his body to believe it." Sanjeev's roommate, Gillay Shrinivas, 25, shall never be able to exorcise the images of burning bodies from his memory. "I saw him [Sanjeev], my brother and my uncle burn alive. I tried to drag my brother out, but he was scared and didn't move. He has a wife and two kids," said Shrinivas.

"The fire spread rapidly. Within minutes the ceiling collapsed. Those who were afraid to pass through the burning passageway died in the room," he said, adding people jumped out of the second floor building. M. Murias, 25, a labourer, lost Dh6,500 in the fire.

Some illegal workers thought it was a police raid. R. Reddy, a labourer, said: "We heard screams in the morning, but thought the police had come to catch us. By the time we realised what was going on, the whole place was on fire."

Similarly, Mohammad Ayoub, 23, is mourning the death of his Bangladeshi roommate Farooq Mohammad, who was a plumber. "Farooq was just 16 years old and came on a visit visa around two months ago," he said.

The 11 victims