Sharjah: An African man lost his life after he jumped off a high-rise residential building in Sharjah Thursday night in an attempt to escape a fire.
The fire broke out in a 38-storey residential tower in Al Nahda district.
Upon receiving a report at 10 pm, the Sharjah Civil Defence responded swiftly, containing the fire and ensuring the residents’ safety. Gulf News visited the site and observed how authorities quickly controlled the situation and helped residents.
Initial investigations showed that the fire broke out in the electrical transformers on floors 18 and 26.
Despite the quick and efficient response from the authorities, some cases of suffocation were recorded. Residents were evacuated to safety.
What residents saw
An Egyptian couple who lived on the 26th flood told Gulf News that when they heard the alarm going off, they went out of their unit quickly and saw smoke on the floor, and rushed down the stairs.
“When we reached the ground floor, we saw the firefighters and emergency crew in front of us…they had reached the site so quickly and helped us to stay in a safe place.”
“We saw an African man lying on the ground, he apparently jumped from upper floors and died instantly,” they said.
An Uzbek woman who lived on 11th floor told Gulf News: “There was no blaze...I saw only smoke. Firefighters helped us move quickly downstairs. They also used a ladder to help residents move out and checked if any one was trapped inside”.
Residents of the 38-storey building were evacuated safely in record time. The building consists of 33 residential floors and 5 parking levels, with each floor having eight flats. The building has three blocks (A, B and C), the fire broke out in Block B.
The smoke covered the floors and firefighters quickly took occupants out.
Sharjah Police were also on hand assisting residents. At press time 3.40am, they were seen checking the number of residents who will be moved to hotels.
Senior police and civil defence officials were on site to supervise the operation.
The body of the African man was moved to the forensic laboratory for a post-mortem.
