Dubai, January 2: Smoke was still rising from a 63-storey luxury hotel in Dubai today as authorities worked to determine the cause of a spectacular fire that engulfed the building on New Year’s Eve.
The huge blaze at The Address Downtown hotel erupted around 9:30 pm local time last night, sparking panic but no reports of serious injuries. Authorities went ahead with a dazzling fireworks display at the nearby Burj Khalifa — the world’s tallest skyscraper -despite the inferno, the latest in a series of fires in recent years to hit the buildings that make up Dubai’s futuristic cityscape.
Officials have said the fire erupted from the outside of the building on its 20th floor but the exact cause was not yet known.
A top Dubai security official, General Dahi Khalfan, posted a picture on Twitter of a fire beneath a ledge of the building, saying the start of the blaze had been captured by a police criminal investigation photographer.
Authorities said only 16 people had suffered mostly minor injuries. At least 14 people were slightly injured, one was moderately injured and one person suffered a heart attack during the evacuation, the government said.
Fire fighters spent the night trying to extinguish the blaze. Heavy black smoke still billowed from several floors of the hotel early today, an AFP photographer said, as firefighters continued to douse the building with water hoses.
Roads leading directly to the hotel were closed but otherwise Dubai city centre appeared normal, with passers-by stopping to take pictures of the building with their mobile phones.
