Fire at 20-storey tower in Al Taawun area

A 20-storey tower in Sharjah’s Al Taawun area caught fire on Monday afternoon.

The fire broke at the 7^th floor of the Al Hafeet Tower after 2pm and there were no immediate reports of injuries, Arabic daily 'Emarat Al Youm' said.

Civil Defence teams rushed to the spot and the fire has now been brought under control, said Brigadier Abdullah Saeed Al Suwaidi, the Director General of Civil Defense Sharjah, who oversaw the firefighting operations.

Al Suwaidi said: "The civil defense teams had to evacuate the tower and keep the public from the site of the fire; there were no injuries… the civil defence team was also working with the help of the police to move out cars parked around the tower."

Residents in adjoining buildings said they heard a loud explosion.

Dubai Civil Defence, Sharjah Police and other fire-fighting units from Al Qusais and Al Hamriya participated in the operation, which involved 10 vehicles from the Civil Defense.

He stressed that "the fire was brought under control rapidly within an hour," pointing out that the speed was of the essence and the response time was very quick.

Two ambulances were deployed at the fire site.

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