SHARJAH // Residents ran from their flats after a gas explosion rocked the ground floor of a building on Al Wahda Road early yesterday, destroying 10 shops and damaging 15 parked cars.
Firefighters fought to extinguish a blaze at the scene shortly after the blast at 2.30am.
Sharjah Civil Defence helped residents to evacuate the Juma al Mutwawa building, which has 40 flats, and said later there were no injuries.
Rassul Khan, who lives in the building, said he ran to his children's bedroom to check his family was safe before they fled.
"There was chaos everywhere: building and car glass all over the place," he said. "It is hard to believe nobody died or was injured. As the neighbours came outside, we kept congratulating each other on having survived and wondering who would be the victims."
Police said it was fortunate the explosion occurred in the early hours of the morning when shops were closed and there was no traffic on Al Wahda Road.
"The blast is believed to have originated in Al Thouk Falafil and Shawarma Cafeteria," Mohammed al Saree, a senior official from Sharjah Civil Defence, said.
A Pierre Cardin clothing shop, Way Inn Supermarket and Al Sayyad restaurant were among the stores damaged.
Abdul Rashid, a watchman on duty at the time, said it was the loudest explosion he had heard. He said he ran out of his room, thinking it was a terrorist attack.
"The whole night, the building was out of bounds and we were busy co-operating with police for investigations, moving from one officer to another answering questions about the building, its residents and safety," he said.
Residents were allowed back into their homes at 1pm yesterday after the building was checked for structural damage.
Ramesh Nayl, who lives in the neighbouring ABC Building, said he felt the impact of the blast. "We thought it was in our flat and that there would be many casualties," he said.
Police yesterday said the explosion may have resulted from cafeteria employees' failure to turn off gas cylinders after use.
"Forensic laboratory experts have confirmed that the fire began from a leaking gas cylinder in the cafeteria," police said. "The leaked gas had filled much of the cafeteria, and when the explosion went off, it was a big one."
Police appealed to the public to carry out regular maintenance checks on gas cylinders and to ensure cylinderswere closed off after use.
The owner of the building, Abdullah Juma al Mutwawa, was not available for comment.
A police spokesman said the cost of damage and resulting losses from the explosion could "run into millions".
A committee of municipality, civil defence and police officials will investigate the accident and estimate total losses.Thefindings will be used by insurance companies to determine compensation, the spokesman said.
ykakande@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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