Massive fire at downtown Dubai’s highrise Address hotel

The Dubai Civil Defence Director said the fire will not effect Burj Khalifa New Year’s celebrations.

The hotel is one of the tallest buildings in Dubai, with seven lounges and restaurants as well as a beauty spa, according to its website.

The government of Dubai’s media office said on Twitter that one person had died after suffering a heart attack while trying to run away.

The fire sent burning debris raining down on revelers.

A medic on the scene who declined to be identified told Reuters: “There are more than 60 people injured with light injuries from smoke inhalation and from crowding while in the stairs evacuating the building”.

A huge fire engulfed a high-rise hotel in central Dubai ahead of a New Year’s Eve firework display last night.

The authorities in Dubai are trying to find out what caused a spectacular fire to engulf a 63-storey luxury hotel in the city centre on New Year’s Eve.

The fire’s quick growth also caught those on the surrounding streets by surprise.

Organisers said the display included 400,000 LED lights used 1.6 tons of fireworks. They quickly learned that it was not fireworks and that the 63 story building was on fire.

The BBC World Service Middle East editor, Sebastian Usher, says the display is a huge prestige event for Dubai, and authorities want the images that people look back on next year to be of the fireworks – and not of the blaze.

The Dubai media office said the blaze had started on the 20th floor, on the outside of the 300-metre tower, and that internal fire-fighting systems were operating to try to prevent it getting inside the hotel. Hundreds of people in the surrounding area have been evacuated, and at least four firefighter crews were called to the scene. The Address Downtown Hotel is the 19th tallest building in Dubai.

“Currently there are 4 squads of firefighters on site to deal with the fire and ensure the safety of everyone”.

“The problem is people inside the Burj Khalifa can not move anywhere because we [are] kind of waiting for the fireworks display”.

The ironically named Dubai Marina Torch, which is even taller, at 79 floors, than the Address Hotel, burned almost two years ago. “Until the fire is put out, we will not have information on what caused it”, he added.