Hundreds of families desperate for relief after devastating blaze

Sharjah: Hundreds of families have been left in limbo after a 40-storey tower block was gutted by fire on Saturday.

Up to 400 families were forced to leave the partially burnt out Al Tayer Tower after fire ripped through the building in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Crowds huddled outside the building comforting each other as a forensics team from Sharjah Police searched for evidence of the cause of the fire. While many tenants said they were staying with friends or relatives, dozens queued in front of charity tents set up at Al Nahda Park to register their names for three days' accommodation at local hotel apartments.

Large balls of flames erupted from the first floor at Al Tayer Tower in Al Nahda at around 2.25am, according to police, and then shot up to the floors above ravaging flat numbers seven, eight and nine on each floor. The fire was extinguished by 5.30am.

Up to 102 flats were gutted by the flames while those on the opposite side facing the main road were left unscathed. But all residents were forced to leave as water and electricity supplies were affected.

A forensics team from Sharjah Police gathered evidence at the scene to determine the cause of the fire, which remains unknown.

"The fire initially started at the first floor and then spread rapidly until it reached the higher floors of the building," said Brigadier Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director of Sharjah Civil Defence.

"The fire broke out at one side of the back of the building and firefighters from all emirates contributed to the extinguishing process, while Anjad patrols cordoned off the area," Brig Al Suwaidi explained.

The financial loss incurred by the fire remains to be seen, but Sharjah Police confirmed that 45 cars parked under the building were severely damaged.

Flammable material

Brigadier Abdullah Mubarak Al Dukhan, deputy director of Sharjah Police, who supervised the fire services, said construction materials used for the building were flammable, which caused the fire to spread rapidly.

In response to some tenants who said authorities did not start putting out the fire for at least an hour, an official from Sharjah Civil Defence, who declined to be named, said they were waiting for a crane to arrive at the scene. "The first residential floor was already seven storeys high, because the first six floors consisted of parking spaces," he said. "We had to ensure that the evacuation process was successfully carried out, and then we had to wait for a crane to arrive so we could douse the higher floors."

Several other tenants also said they were upset with the lack of safety equipment in the building, and that if it were not for the watchman who knocked on their front doors, they would have stayed in longer.

"The fire alarm only went off in the corridors and we assumed that it had gone off accidentally because it was quiet in the building. The watchman thankfully informed all tenants to evacuate by knocking on our doors, but I was shocked that the sprinklers were not working," said Mohammad Kunhi, a resident.

Defective

Recalling the night of the fire, another tenant, who lives on the tenth floor, complained of the tower's defective fire protection system.

"At around 2am, the fire was still on the first floor. We tried putting it out using the building fire hose but it did not have water. The sprinklers and the fire extinguishers weren't working either," the irate tenant said.

"My house was totally burned down. And I am also worried because I have already paid my rent in advance," he said, adding that he was not certain about the fate of his possessions inside his home. Parents were also unable to send their children to school as their school books and uniforms were in their flats, but explained that they would resume classes once they were allowed back in the building.

"I did not receive any communication from the real estate office and I do not know what to do. I'll never live in this area again because I do not feel that any building is safe," said another tenant, Prakash Balkrishna.