Resident recalls escaping burning Dubai skyscraper: 'Adrenaline takes over completely'
She said she joined about 17 other people in the staircase. Among them were two fathers with small children and two 20-something women in their pajamas.
Everyone was rattled and trying to get out as fast as they could, Momtaz said, but sprinklers hadn't activated and the group couldn't hear any fire marshals giving guidance.
Massive fire breaks out at Dubai skyscraper
"People were helping each other down the stairs, trying to reassure each other, making sure everyone was accounted for and no one was left behind."
Yet the journey down was nerve-wracking. At different junctions, she said they smelled more and more smoke, which made them wonder whether the fire was below or above them.
"When we got to the 40th floor, we smelled more smoke and we weren't sure what was happening. Then on the 25th, the smell seemed to get stronger again. We kept going because we didn't want to get stuck," Momtaz recalled.
It took Momtaz 15 minutes to make it out. When she reached the ground floor, she said she was ushered out by police through a side entrance because the main door was too exposed to falling debris.
Once she was outside, it was clear why.
"Huge chunks of cladding were falling off ablaze, and as soon as they hit the railing on the balconies of the lower levels, the fire would spread," Momtaz said.
Momtaz said the firefighters that she saw arrived shortly after 1 a.m., a timeline confirmed by the Dubai Media Office's Twitter feed. The fire was declared under control an hour later.
There have been no reported injuries or fatalities. The origin and cause of the fire remain unknown as investigators continue to look into what happened. The fire caused external damage over 64 floors, according to local authorities, and 38 apartments caught fire.
Parallels were already being drawn with the fire that ravaged Grenfell Tower in London in June and killed at least 80 people, bringing more scrutiny to the adequacy of the cladding used on such tower blocks. A fire broke out in the Torch in 2015, and the damage it causes is still being repaired.
"We all joke about the name of the tower and the fire -- well, now the two fires -- that happened," Momtaz said.
Local authorities and the building management said they were already placing residents in nearby hotels, and more residents have signed up for alternative housing this morning as they surveyed the damage.
Comments
Post a Comment