Large blaze contained at Sharjah's Al Hamriyah fuel depot after 24-hour battle

No casualties reported as emergency services and the military launch major response

Helicopters and firefighting equipment were used to bring a blaze at a fuel depot in Sharjah's Al Hamriyah Port under control on Saturday.

No casualties were reported by Sharjah Civil Defence, who battled black smoke and raging flames from about 6.10am after the fire was sparked by the ignition of petrochemical substances.

With specialists in fire and chemical safety brought in from across the country, the incident is believed to have started in a warehouse and was brought under control at 6.25am on Sunday, officials said.

After the alarm was raised, a unified response system was activated in a joint operation overseen by civil defence units from across the Emirates, the Ministry of Defence, National Guard and Joint Aviation Command, the military air division.

Chinook helicopters could be seen unloading gallons of water from buckets onto the flames.

Municipalities of Sharjah and Al Hamriyah were also involved in the co-ordinated response to control the incident.

The emergency action limited damage to surrounding property, emergency services said.

Maj Gen Abdullah Mubarak bin Amer, commander-in-chief of Sharjah Police and chairman of the Local Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Team in Sharjah, said there had no been no loss of human life, and urged the public to follow official sources of information on the incident.

Maj Gen bin Amer hailed the efforts of emergency units from across the country who worked in tandem to prevent the large fire from spreading.

He said forensic teams will conduct investigations on site to determine the cause of the blaze and assess the damage caused, the results of which will be announced once concluded.

Fire crews will remain on site on Sunday as dampening down of the affected area continues, to prevent further outbreaks, with temperatures expected to reach 40ºC through the day.