Fire breaks out at Abu Dhabi construction site
VIDEO: ‘Hundreds’ of workers evacuated from site next to the Beach Rotana hotel
A major fire broke out at a construction site in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday morning, with Civil Defence teams rushing to the scene to fight the blaze.
A video posted to Twitter by the UAE Ministry of Interior shows burning debris falling from near the top of a glass-fronted under-construction tower.
جهود الدفاع المدني في السيطرة على حريق نشب في مبنى قيد الإنشاء في النادي السياحي.. عين الإعلام الأمني pic.twitter.com/d4wwF0CVcj
— MOIUAE (@moiuae) August 30, 2016
The tower is next to the Beach Rotana hotel in the Tourist Club area, on the northern side of Abu Dhabi island.
‘Hundreds’ of workers were evacuated from the site, The National reported. The tower is being built by the Ghantoot Group, the newspaper said.
صورة من الحريق الذي نشب في مبنى قيد الإنشاء في النادي السياحي.. بعدسة الإعلام الأمني pic.twitter.com/FbHoLQB1SO
— MOIUAE (@moiuae) August 30, 2016
It was not immediately clear whether there were any injuries. A nearby bridge to Al Maryah Island has been shut to vehicles, local media reported.
اللواء جاسم المرزوقي قائد عام الدفاع المدني يتفقد جهود مكافحة حريق نشب في مبنى قيد الإنشاء بالنادي السياحي pic.twitter.com/OdCNxKahne
— MOIUAE (@moiuae) August 30, 2016
It is the latest of a string of fires to hit high-rise towers in the UAE.
Workers were evacuated from a blaze at the under-construction Viceroy Dubai Jumeirah Village earlier this month.
That incident followed a fire at the 75-storey Sulafa Tower in the Marina district in July 2016.
Previous fires include a residential building in Ajman in March, the fire at The Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai on New Year’s Eve, and blazes at 79-storey and 34-storey Dubai residential buildings in 2015 and 2012 respectively.
