Families flee fire at six-storey Sharjah building

The fire began about 9.45pm in a first-floor flat before spreading to four of 31 other apartments in the King Faisal Street building. Satish Kumar / The National

SHARJAH // Families were forced to flee their homes after a blaze erupted in a six-storey building on Sunday night.

The fire began about 9.45pm in a first-floor flat before spreading to four of 31 other apartments in the King Faisal Street building.

Mohammed Haider, 22, said the fire started in his flat, probably caused by an electrical problem in an air-conditioning unit.

Mr Haider, a Palestinian who has lived in the building with his family for four years, said he was alerted by the strong smell of smoke.

“I could smell fire and thought it was from outside,” he said. “When I checked I didn’t find anything and then I noticed it was in the bedroom.

“The curtain was burning so I tried to extinguish it with a blanket, then I brought a fire extinguisher but the blaze and smoke increased and I couldn’t breathe. My family and I left the apartment and then I called Civil Defence.”

Mr Haider said all of his family’s clothes and important documents, including his mother’s passport, were destroyed.

Only one side of the block in Al Majaz 1, known as the Jabal Arafat Tailors building, was affected. The 30-year-old building was evacuated as fire crews arrived.

No one was hurt and those whose homes were not affected were allowed to return when the building was deemed safe.

Residents of the four damaged flats have been put up in Al Bustan Tower Hotel and given aid by the Sharjah Red Crescent.

Teams from the police CID and Civil Defence were assessing the damage.

“The Red Crescent are providing us with aid in addition to the hotel apartments they gave us,” said Mr Haider.

The building’s manager, Basim Dasoqi, said it was fully insured.

“It is the first fire since it was built,” Mr Dasoqi said. “Now we can’t do anything until we get a report from the forensics laboratory and then we can tell the insurance agency.”

Manal Abdul Wahab, a Palestinian housewife, and her family lost all of their belongings, including passports, money and valuables.

“Thank God my daughter was not sleeping in the bedroom when the fire happened,” said Ms Abdul Wahab, 51. “We lost everything and we left the place without anything, just wearing our pyjamas.

“I still smell the smoke and I feel it is inside my body.”

Civil Defence was unavailable for comment.

There have been many large fires in Sharjah residential buildings in recent years. In July 2010, more than 200 families had to be relocated after fire destroyed the 14-storey Al Kuwait Tower.

The following year, a fire spread to 10 floors of the 21-storey Al Mansour Tower.

And more than 120 families had to flee their homes after a blaze destroyed the 25-storey Al Baker Tower 4 in January 2012. It took emergency crews from three emirates 10 hours to bring it under control.

Three months later 100 families were left homeless after a fire gutted the 40-storey Al Tayer tower in Al Nahda area.

In April 2013, more than 80 families were evacuated after a fire broke out in a 20-storey building in Al Taawun neighbourhood.