Fire breaks out at Sharjah residential tower in UAE

BY Taiwo Okanlawon

A massive fire broke out at a residential building in Al Nahda in Sharjah, one of the largest cities in the United Arab Emirates.

According to BBC, dozens of firefighters worked to put out the blaze in the Abbco Tower using at least a dozen fire engines and drones, a local journalist reports.

They are now trying to cool the 48-floor building down.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or of the likely cause of the fire.

Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 21:00 (17:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

At least five buildings nearby were evacuated as the fire service worked at the scene, the Dubai-based Khaleej Times reports.

Residents of the nearby buildings were immediately evacuated for their safety.

A Nigerian resident of nearby building, Akanbi Adewale told PM News that the fire is believed to have started on the 10th floor, and “some people said it was a gas explosion that caused it.”

The tower, constructed in 2006, has 45 floors, including parking, out of which 36 are residential floors. Each floor has 12 flats.