4 Indians among 16 dead in Dubai building fire

Dubai: Four Indians, including a couple from Kerala, were among 16 people dead after a massive fire broke out in a residential building in Dubai that also injured nine others, officials said on Sunday.The fire broke out on the fourth floor of the building in the Al-Ras area, one of the oldest parts of Dubai, and began spreading to other areas, they said.Sixteen people died and nine others were seriously injured, officials said.A team from the Dubai Civil Defence headquarters arrived at the site of the blaze and began evacuating residents in the building.Teams from the Port Saeed Fire Station and the Hamriyah Fire Station were also summoned.The flames were doused by 2:42 p.m. (local time), the paper said.Quoting Naseer Vatanappally, an Indian social worker who was at the Dubai Police mortuary, the paper reported that four Indians, including a couple from Kerala, have been identified among the victims.“So far, we have managed to identify 4 Indians, including a couple from Kerala and two men from Tamil Nadu who worked at the building, 3 Pakistani cousins and a Nigerian woman,” Mr. Vatanappally said.Mr. Vatanappally said he was coordinating with Dubai Police, the Indian Consulate in Dubai, other diplomatic missions and friends and relatives of the deceased, the report said.
Preliminary investigations showed the building lacked adequate safety requirements, the Dubai Civil Defence spokesperson said.Authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation to provide a detailed report on the causes of the fire, it added.