Flames Engulf One of World's Tallest Apartment Towers

Another bad night for Dubai's Torch Tower
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 4, 2017 12:26 AM CDT
Flames Engulf One of World's Tallest Apartment Towers
Smoke and fire rise from a high-rise building at Marina district in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Aug. 4, 2017.   (Kamran Jebreili)

A fire broke out after midnight in one of the world's tallest residential towers, engulfing part of the skyscraper and sending chunks of debris plummeting. More than 40 floors of Dubai's 86-story Torch Tower were burning on one side of the building, an AP journalist near the scene of the blaze said. Building residents could be seen on the street outside crying, with several saying the fire broke out just after 1am Friday local time. Dubai's Civil Defense announced at about 3:30am that firefighters had brought the blaze under control and that no injuries had been reported. "Cooling operations are underway," Dubai's official media office said on Twitter.

This is the second time in 2.5 years that the unfortunately named tower has been ravaged by fire. The 1,100-foot tower, located in the popular waterfront Marina district, caught fire in February 2015, but there were no major casualties reported in that blaze. Early Friday, authorities shared a photo of the charred and blackened tower but it was no longer visibly in flames. Officials say they are now working on providing shelter for those affected. Dubai police cordoned off several blocks around the building, keeping people away from the fire's falling debris. Earlier this year, Dubai passed new fire safety rules requiring buildings with quick-burning side paneling to replace it with more fire-resistant siding. (More Dubai stories.)

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