Residents were evacuated around dawn when an electrical fire broke out in the building
A fire broke out in Icon Tower 1, Cluster M in Dubai's Jumeirah Lakes Towers community around 5 o'clock this morning. All residents of the building were rudely woken up around dawn on Friday and had to evacuate the building. According to a resident, the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit. However, this information has not been confirmed by any authorities so far. Leila A, a media professional who also owns an apartment in the building says that there was chaos on the staircase when everyone was in a hurry to reach the ground floor even as the fire alarm wailed on.
She also added that as of Friday afternoon (2pm) about 100-odd apartments did not have any power and the residents did not know when the power would be restored.
Residents are scared to get back into the building as they do not feel safe. Many residents complained that their lungs were left burning as a result of smoke inhalation. Leila told Emirates 24|7: "Does a fatal casualty have to happen before maintanence companies take safety measures seriously?" She added: "We had the incident in Tamweel to give us a cautionary note to take extreme safety measures to avoid such situations.There has to be some accountability." According to eye-witnesses a few residents were taken away in an ambulance earlier this morning. More details are awaited from ground zero. Watch this space for more details. If anyone has any details about the fire, please send an email to emiratesedit@gmail.com.
Images and videos of the incident can also be emailed.
© Emirates 24|7 2013
