ABU DHABI // Residents of an apartment block gutted by fire were forced to sleep outside and at a nearby mosque.
The blaze, in which one person died, broke out on Monday on the seventh floor of a nine-storey tower on Airport Road, near the junction with 15th Street.
An Asian man died of smoke inhalation after being trapped on the eighth floor, Abu Dhabi Police said.
Many tenants had no choice but to sleep in the car park in front of the building after police cordoned off the apartments and refused anyone entry.
“On Monday night I slept in a nearby mosque as the police blocked the building,” said Yousuf Rehman, a Pakistani who lives on the fifth floor. “I didn’t want to sleep on the parking kerbs so I went to the mosque. But many people spent their night there.”
He said he planned to move from the building because it was very old and lacked facilities.
“I always have to take the stairs to the fifth floor as the lifts are out of order and there is never any maintenance,” Mr Rehman said.
About 100 people live in the apartment block but many said they would leave as soon as possible because it was poorly maintained and dangerous.
The electricity was restored today but the lifts were still not working.
Burnt debris was today piled up on the seventh floor where the fire had broken out and residents had yet to be able to return to the floors above.
Katrina Cruiz, a Filipina who lives on the sixth floor, said she had to stay with friends for a few nights.
“It’s been one year for me here but now I would move. On Monday night the building was full with smoke but my floor remained safe.
“I rushed to one of my friends to stay for a couple of days and just came back today.
“I believe it would have happened from a short circuit, but I am not sure.”
Another Filipina who lives on the sixth floor, who did not want to be named, said she wanted to leave.
“I moved here five days back and after two days this horrific incident happened,” she said.
“Now I have started looking for another place because after the fire the building has badly deteriorated and it is improper to live here.”
anwar@thenational.ae