The eight-story apartment building in the Tourist Club area of Abu Dhabi had no smoke detectors or sprinklers, and was scheduled for demolition, the newspaper said, without giving the cause of the fire. More than 30 people were reportedly injured, many from jumping out of the burning building. –File photo.
DUBAI: A Pakistani man spoke to his family on the phone moments before he died, along with another resident, in a fire in a condemned Abu Dhabi apartment building, The National newspaper reported on Saturday
Raja Muhammed Azeem Khan, 60, called his family after the fire broke out. 'He was saying: I'm trying, but I can't come out,’ Azeem's cousin, Muhammed Sohrab, was quoted as saying.
Azeem, who had moved to Abu Dhabi more than 30 years ago, died shortly afterwards of smoke inhalation, as did another Pakistani, Dood Khashen, 45.
More than 30 people were reportedly injured, many from jumping out of the burning building.
The eight-story apartment building in the Tourist Club area of Abu Dhabi had no smoke detectors or sprinklers, and was scheduled for demolition, the newspaper said, without giving the cause of the fire.
In a separate article, The National described other buildings in the Tourist Club area as being overcrowded and potentially dangerous.
‘Most of (the area's old buildings) should be demolished, but landlords would give them to investors who would re-rent them to low-income people. There are between 10 and 14 people living in such rooms,’ it quoted Algerian Abu Mahmoud, described as a safety expert, as saying.
Mahmud Hamza, a 59 year-old Egyptian, described one apartment in the area as housing more than 15 people.
The newspaper said a faulty air conditioner caught fire in August at another Tourist Club apartment that houses five people.
‘We were all asleep and suddenly we heard a loud explosion. We woke up and we saw the air conditioner cable on fire,’ one of the residents was quoted as saying.
The landlord reportedly did not repair the cable for three days, and when he did, wires were left exposed. That building also has no fire alarms, sprinklers or fire extinguishers. –AFP
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