01-01-2016, 08:39 AM
Last night's rather suspicious fire in Dubai [with explosions heard in the building by many] and huge fire in the building further proves what is well known - that fires do NOT bring down steel-frame high-rise buildings. Never has and never will. Only explosives can do that....and that is exactly what brought down the three [3] big WTC towers on 9-11-01 and damaged all the others.
Dubai, UAE - A huge fire has engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on Thursday just hours before New Year's celebrations, with a number of explosions heard in and around the building.
The massive blaze quickly shot up the 63-story Address Hotel in the downtown area of the Gulf metropolis, covering nearly the entire structure and sending hundreds of people fleeing for safety.
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"The left side of the hotel is completely gone," Al Jazeera's Diana al-Rifai reported from the scene. "There was a minor stampede - panic set in and people ran away."
By 21.00 GMT, authorities said the fire had largely been brought under control, injuring at least 16 people.
Earlier, the government of Dubai's media office had said on Twitter that 14 people had been injured, including a person who suffered a heart attack while trying to run away. One news report said that one person had died, but there was no official confirmation.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, who is also reporting from Dubai, said that as of Friday morning, all roads leading to the hotel were still blocked by authorities.
"Certainly this is the last thing that anybody who was at the Address Hotel last night would have expected," he said, adding that the building is one of the most secured in the area.
The "very luxurious" building is usually packed with local and foreign revelers this time of the year wanting to see the firework display.
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[TD="class: caption"]Injured people receive treatment outside the Address Hotel in downtown Dubai [Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters][/TD]
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The blaze started on the 20th floor of the building and only affected the outside of the structure, Dubai's media office said.
Rifai said big pieces of the building fell from the sky and thick black smoke blanketed the entire city. Helicopters hovered around the blaze, she said.
"Apparently the fire has been put out at the top of the hotel, but lower levels are still burning. I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Rifai.
Oshaeni Idahosa, a resident at The Address, said: "When we looked out it was fire on the balcony. We started running out.
"I'm still in shock. The sprinklers didn't come out, there were no sprinklers. There's no fire alarm."
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which ran up dozens of stories of the building near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 metres.
Despite the massive fire, the New Year's Eve fireworks show nearby at the Burj went ahead as planned.
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[TD="class: caption"]A fire consumes the Address Hotel in downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on New Year's Eve [Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters][/TD]
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Dubai, UAE - A huge fire has engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on Thursday just hours before New Year's celebrations, with a number of explosions heard in and around the building.
The massive blaze quickly shot up the 63-story Address Hotel in the downtown area of the Gulf metropolis, covering nearly the entire structure and sending hundreds of people fleeing for safety.
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"The left side of the hotel is completely gone," Al Jazeera's Diana al-Rifai reported from the scene. "There was a minor stampede - panic set in and people ran away."
By 21.00 GMT, authorities said the fire had largely been brought under control, injuring at least 16 people.
Earlier, the government of Dubai's media office had said on Twitter that 14 people had been injured, including a person who suffered a heart attack while trying to run away. One news report said that one person had died, but there was no official confirmation.
Al Jazeera's Mohammed Jamjoom, who is also reporting from Dubai, said that as of Friday morning, all roads leading to the hotel were still blocked by authorities.
"Certainly this is the last thing that anybody who was at the Address Hotel last night would have expected," he said, adding that the building is one of the most secured in the area.
The "very luxurious" building is usually packed with local and foreign revelers this time of the year wanting to see the firework display.
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[TD="class: caption"]Injured people receive treatment outside the Address Hotel in downtown Dubai [Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters][/TD]
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The blaze started on the 20th floor of the building and only affected the outside of the structure, Dubai's media office said.
Rifai said big pieces of the building fell from the sky and thick black smoke blanketed the entire city. Helicopters hovered around the blaze, she said.
"Apparently the fire has been put out at the top of the hotel, but lower levels are still burning. I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Rifai.
Oshaeni Idahosa, a resident at The Address, said: "When we looked out it was fire on the balcony. We started running out.
"I'm still in shock. The sprinklers didn't come out, there were no sprinklers. There's no fire alarm."
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which ran up dozens of stories of the building near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 metres.
Despite the massive fire, the New Year's Eve fireworks show nearby at the Burj went ahead as planned.
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[TD="class: caption"]A fire consumes the Address Hotel in downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on New Year's Eve [Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters][/TD]
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"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass