Fire leaves 125 families homeless

posted on 26/01/2012: 114 views

A huge fire gutted a residential building in Sharjah, opposite Al Taawun Mall, in the wee hours of Wednesday. The blaze started at 2.15am and left about 125 families homeless. However, no one was injured or dead.

The facade of the building was burnt from top to bottom. The police cordoned off the area.

The fire had started on the first floor and spread till the 23rd floor.

The blaze was completely doused at around 5am by fire-fighters from Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Umm Al Qaiwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Ajman, said Major Gen Humaid Mohammed Al Hudaidi, director general of the Sharjah Police, who visited the scene to guide the fire fighting process. "No death or injury has been reported so far,” he said.

"We are now co-ordinating efforts to ensure that all the families who lost their homes get immediate help like accommodation and food,” he added.

According to Col Sultan Abdullah Al Khayal, director of Sharjah Police Public Relations and Moral Guidance Department, 14 cars parked near the building were burnt down.

"The cause of the fire is not known yet, though the forensic laboratory of the Sharjah Police is of the view that it might have been due to some human error,” he said.

"A group of experts from the forensics department and CID are on the scene. They would start identifying the causes of the blaze once the place is declared safe by the fire-fighters.”

A number of charitable organisations were already on the scene to extend support to the homeless families.

The Sharjah Charity and Red Crescent were leading the relief operations and had built a small tent where they were receiving the victims, said Abdullah Bin Khadim, director general of Sharjah Charity.

"The Sharjah Charity would be accommodating up to 50 families in hotels and another 50 families would be accommodated by the Sharjah Club at their premises. The remaining 25 families would be taken care of by other charities,” he said.

Despite huge losses, the families were happy that they survived the tragedy. However, they were disheartened that they lost their belongings.

The families and children who were evacuated by the fire-fighters stood near the building and watched the inferno engulfing their homes. – The Gulf Today

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