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No picture yet ...saw it on live feed video.
Alert : Skyscraper on fire in downtown Dubai.
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It is the Address Downtown Dubai. Formerly The Address Downtown Burj Dubai, is a 63-story, 302.2 m supertall hotel and residential skyscraper in the Burj Dubai Development Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the 19th tallest building in the city. The tower is another supertall structure in the massive development named Downtown Dubai, which includes the centerpiece supertall building, the Burj Khalifa. The tower was topped out in April 2008, becoming the 6th-tallest building in Dubai and the 36th-tallest in the world. The AED845 million tower was completed in September 2008.
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Sinkapore should rush its Home Team to help and win some beehoon points with the UAE.
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There is a live feed on Russian Today.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which covered at least 20 stories of the building near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, AP reports.
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Debris falling on surrounding houses
https://www.rt.com/news/327592-dubai-hotel-fire-address/
https://www.rt.com/news/327592-dubai-hotel-fire-address/
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Where is Kee Chiu????? We need him to lead the team to help.
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Feb 2015, there was another skyscraper fire.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/21/fire-dubai-skyscraper-evacuation
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/21/fire-dubai-skyscraper-evacuation
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End of Sam's Live News as the major networks have taken over.
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they need to collect on fire insurance before the new year is up. :p
More spectacular than new year fireworks!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fire-breaks-near-dubais-years-fireworks-display-174813328.html#
Dubai New Year fireworks kick off while nearby tower blazes
Associated Press By JON GAMBRELL
1 hour ago
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A 63-story luxury hotel was engulfed in flames even as a massive New Year's fireworks display kicked off at the world's tallest skyscraper nearby, while tens of thousands of people whistled and cheered at early Friday's pyrotechnics.
Just minutes before the fireworks began in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, large explosions could be heard from inside the burning building, which was cloaked in thick black smoke. Other blasts followed later during the night. It was not clear what caused them.
At least 14 people were slightly injured, and one person suffered a heart attack from the smoke and over-crowding during an evacuation late Thursday, according to the Dubai Media Office. The statement said another person was moderately injured, without elaborating further. No children were among those injured, it said.
Around 1 million people had been expected to gather around the Burj Khalifa skyscraper to watch the fireworks. Dubai's economy depends heavily on tourism, and New Year's is one of the busiest seasons, drawing people from around the world to watch the fireworks that the emirate puts on at the world's tallest tower, as well as the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab and over a man-made palm-shaped island.
Organizers had installed 400,000 LED lights on the Burj Khalifa and used some 1.6 tons of fireworks for the seven-minute extravaganza. Two years ago on New Year's, Dubai broke the world record for the largest fireworks display.
The fire engulfed the Address Downtown, one of the most upscale hotels and residences in Dubai, which was likely to have been packed with people because of its clear view of the 828-meter (905-yard) tall Burj Khalifa.
The hotel towers over the Souq Al Bahar, a popular shopping area with walkways that connect to the Burj Khalifa and the Middle East's largest mall, the Dubai Mall.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which ran up the 63-story building. The Address is a 991 foot-tall (302-meter) skyscraper that has 626 luxury apartments and 196 hotel rooms, according to Skyscraper Center, which tracks such buildings.
Dubai's Media Office wrote on its official Twitter account that four teams of firefighters were working to put out the blaze. They said the fire appears to have originated on a 20th floor terrace, though witnesses who saw the blaze start said they believed it began on the building's ground floor. No one offered a cause for the fire.
The fire broke out around 9:30 p.m., about two-and-a-half hours before the midnight fireworks display was set to begin. To manage the crowds, Dubai police had closed off some roads and some metro stations before the fire broke out.
The Dubai Media Office said that Dubai's tourism department would provide guests evacuated from the building with alternative hotel accommodation.
Nearly an hour after the fire began, some onlookers began to leave while others stood, pressed against crowd barricades, watching the blaze. Among them was Chris Browne, a tourist from London, who watched with her husband, Stephen, standing behind her. They said they hoped no one was injured.
"It's pretty scary stuff," she said.
Standing nearby, Stuart O'Donnell, a British intensive care nurse who works in Dubai, said he was worried for those inside the building as it was in a prime location to watch the fireworks display.
"You feel sad for the people inside. ... It spread so quickly when it started," he said.
He and others in the crowd wondered what had started the blaze. "I do feel suspicious of when a fire breaks out on New Year's Eve," he said.
After the fireworks display, Girlie Omilda, a Filipina who works in the aviation industry in Dubai, said she was glad to have seen the fireworks, even as the tower continued to burn. She too was concerned about threats from extremists like the Islamic State group. She said Dubai's large expatriate, non-Muslim population made the city a tempting target.
"Sometimes it makes me feel unsafe," she said.
___
Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Joseph Krauss in Cairo contributed to this report.
___
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35207451
Fire engulfs Dubai hotel ahead of New Year celebrations
31 December 2015
From the section Middle East
A huge fire has engulfed a 63-storey hotel in central Dubai ahead of a New Year's Eve firework display.
Despite the blaze at the Address hotel, the display at the nearby Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, started as planned at midnight.
Officials say the fire has been brought largely under control and 16 people suffered mostly minor injures.
It is unclear what caused the blaze, which broke out as large crowds had gathered to ring in the new year.
People were asked to leave the area around the Address Downtown Hotel, which was evacuated.
The fire broke out at about 21:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and appeared to engulf much of the building, a five-star hotel and apartment complex, within 10 minutes.
At the scene: Nadia Huraimi, BBC News, Dubai
As I watched the flames engulf the massive building, I knew right away it was the Address Hotel in Dubai's downtown district that overlooks Burj Khalifa. I also knew that it was fully booked five years in advance.
There were also thousands of people in the streets below and in the adjacent buildings, all waiting to view the highly anticipated New Year's Eve fireworks display, among them my youngest sister.
After checking on my sister, I hastily decided to head out to downtown Dubai in the hope of seeing the scene on the ground for myself.
As I approached downtown, I realised that the normally brightly illuminated Burj Khalifa was only half-lit and I could barely see the imposing structure amid the black smoke from the Address Hotel.
I did not expect to spend the next four hours right outside the downtown area, in one of the worst traffic jams I have ever encountered.
As the clock struck midnight, I resigned myself to ringing in the New Year among thousands of strangers, all gazing out of our cars towards Burj Khalifa's spectacular fireworks display, alongside a burning hotel.
It started on the 20th floor, officials said, and had not spread inside the building, they claimed.
The Dubai government tweeted that 14 people had suffered minor injuries, one moderate injuries and there was one "heart attack case" due to "overcrowding and smoke".
Irish singer Anita Williams, who was performing at the hotel when the fire began, told the BBC that people left in a "stampede".
"We left everything. There was debris falling down. It [the fire] just shot up through the entire hotel.
"Everybody was screaming, everybody was running... I thought: 'This is a film'."
The fireworks display went ahead as smoke continued to billow from the hotel.
Alternative accommodation would be offered to evacuated guests, the Dubai government said.
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.
Tom Stroud, from London, who is staying near to the hotel, said: "It happened so quickly. There was smoke billowing everywhere and people running away."
A tourist, Michelle Duque told the BBC: "All of a sudden we saw this huge black plume of black smoke coming between the Khalifa Tower and the hotel.
"The flames burst out really big and before we knew it the whole of the Address Hotel was covered in orange flames."
Fire engulfs Dubai hotel ahead of New Year celebrations
31 December 2015
From the section Middle East
A huge fire has engulfed a 63-storey hotel in central Dubai ahead of a New Year's Eve firework display.
Despite the blaze at the Address hotel, the display at the nearby Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, started as planned at midnight.
Officials say the fire has been brought largely under control and 16 people suffered mostly minor injures.
It is unclear what caused the blaze, which broke out as large crowds had gathered to ring in the new year.
People were asked to leave the area around the Address Downtown Hotel, which was evacuated.
The fire broke out at about 21:30 local time (17:30 GMT) and appeared to engulf much of the building, a five-star hotel and apartment complex, within 10 minutes.
At the scene: Nadia Huraimi, BBC News, Dubai
As I watched the flames engulf the massive building, I knew right away it was the Address Hotel in Dubai's downtown district that overlooks Burj Khalifa. I also knew that it was fully booked five years in advance.
There were also thousands of people in the streets below and in the adjacent buildings, all waiting to view the highly anticipated New Year's Eve fireworks display, among them my youngest sister.
After checking on my sister, I hastily decided to head out to downtown Dubai in the hope of seeing the scene on the ground for myself.
As I approached downtown, I realised that the normally brightly illuminated Burj Khalifa was only half-lit and I could barely see the imposing structure amid the black smoke from the Address Hotel.
I did not expect to spend the next four hours right outside the downtown area, in one of the worst traffic jams I have ever encountered.
As the clock struck midnight, I resigned myself to ringing in the New Year among thousands of strangers, all gazing out of our cars towards Burj Khalifa's spectacular fireworks display, alongside a burning hotel.
It started on the 20th floor, officials said, and had not spread inside the building, they claimed.
The Dubai government tweeted that 14 people had suffered minor injuries, one moderate injuries and there was one "heart attack case" due to "overcrowding and smoke".
Irish singer Anita Williams, who was performing at the hotel when the fire began, told the BBC that people left in a "stampede".
"We left everything. There was debris falling down. It [the fire] just shot up through the entire hotel.
"Everybody was screaming, everybody was running... I thought: 'This is a film'."
The fireworks display went ahead as smoke continued to billow from the hotel.
Alternative accommodation would be offered to evacuated guests, the Dubai government said.
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.
Tom Stroud, from London, who is staying near to the hotel, said: "It happened so quickly. There was smoke billowing everywhere and people running away."
A tourist, Michelle Duque told the BBC: "All of a sudden we saw this huge black plume of black smoke coming between the Khalifa Tower and the hotel.
"The flames burst out really big and before we knew it the whole of the Address Hotel was covered in orange flames."
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dont they have water sprinklers in the building?did somebody pour kerosene into the water sprinklers?
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Quick call Steve McQueen and Paul Newman...its the Towering Inferno happening again.
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It is terrorist attack. The chickens have returned home. All the radical islamists are targetting Saudi Arabia and Emirates, the rich states that have enriched theeir own families but given pittance to their people.
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