A total of 23 people died and 43 sustained injuries as a result of inhaling smoke from the fires that engulfed homes in the UAE over the past 11 months, according to police reports.
The fires that have been reported across the country from September 2018 to June 2019, broke out in homes, mainly because of the absence of smoke detectors and other fire safety requirements.
In the latest fire incident in June, two children - aged 3 and 4 - died after a house caught fire in Fujairah. According to the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, the blaze erupted in a villa in Madhab area during the morning. Police and firefighter teams rushed to the spot and controlled the fire but the siblings died of smoke inhalation.
In another incident in April, six Pakistani men, including four of a family, were killed after a fire broke out in a villa in Al Ain's Zakher area.
The police said the survivors of the fire failed to inform the police as soon as it broke out, causing it to spread rapidly. Two men at the scene tried to put out the blaze on their own, but failed to do so. The neighbours called the civil defence, after which a team arrived at the spot. The victims were rushed to Al Ain Hospital, where the six men were declared brought dead.
In the massive fire in October 2018, eight family members were killed after a devastating fire broke out in their home in Baniyas area of Abu Dhabi. Six children and two women were among those who were killed in a blaze that ripped through the family villa.
Among the major causes of the fire included electrical short circuits resulting from faulty wiring, poor or unsafe use of cooking gas cylinders, reckless throwing away of cigarette butts after smoking and poor maintenance of homes.
Copyright © 2019 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
