SHARJAH // A fire destroyed 19 vehicles in the car park of Sharjah University’s women’s campus.
Civil defence crews from Al Sajaa, Samnan and Muweileh stations tackled the blaze, which was reported at 11.30am on Sunday.
Sharjah Police cordoned off the area. No injuries or casualties were reported.
“A car caught fire in the car park which spread to the shading umbrellas, which triggered the huge blaze and damage,” said Lt Col Sami Al Naqbi of Sharjah Civil Defence.
“We don’t yet know the reason behind the fire, which started inside the car,” he said.
Forensic teams were looking into the cause of the blaze.
“We were in the class and the professor got a call that her car was burning, so she cancelled the class and went to the car park,” said Emirati Hind Abdullah, a student of electrical engineering.
“I don’t know anyone who was affected, but around the university there were a lot of girls crying and screaming because their cars were burnt,” the 18-year-old said.
“When I saw the fire, I got scared because what was really terrifying was the sound of cars blowing up and everyone heard that.”
S A, 18, an industrial engineering student, said she found out about the incident at 11.20am from a woman who alerted staff and students that a fire had broken out in the car park.
“I went to the lot and saw that my car had caught fire,” the Emirati said.
“I called my parents to tell them what happened. Then I went back to my class. After an hour and a half, I came back and all the cars were blackened.
“The most terrifying thing was the sound of explosions and seeing the pieces of cars completely burnt.
“I was shocked, and didn’t know what to do – I wanted to cry and I was panicked.”
On Friday afternoon, a fire broke out in diesel tanks in Al Sajaa Industrial area.
Two people were injured in the fire and were taken to hospital for treatment, civil defence said.
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