Dubai Tower Inferno

Picture by Aamir Sarfaraz- Gulf News reader

Picture by David Renkwitz - Gulf News reader

Picture by Angela - Gulf News reader

The photographs are reminiscent of the 1974 classic star studded movie "The Towering Inferno". Today, Dubai witnessed for real one of its first towering infernos. In a city, where buildings are spiralling at the rate of 'one floor a week to touch the sky', today's inferno was a reminder on how things can go badly wrong if the unexpected happens.

Today's fire claimed its victims from the hundreds of labourers, who were finishing the 37 storey building. More than a hundred labourers were stranded on the roof as the fire burnt its way up the building. The spokesperson of Fortune Towers developer said, “the fire erupted between the 21st and 25th floor.” At the time of writing this entry, "Rashid hospital officials put the toll at four and said 67 were injured."

The building was near Dubai Media City and the thick black smoke was visible from far. Thousands of commuters on the Shaikh Zayed Road and residents around the place witnessed the unfolding tragic drama. Workers in their desperation crowded to the top floors, while some tried to climb down the glass panels of the building, during which one man was clearly photographed slipping off the building, by the public on their mobile phones. Here too citizen journalism was there to capture news as it happened. A lot of international media have also carried the story with video footage.

Tonight the fire will turn its eye to what are the facilities in Dubai to handle such towering infernos in the future. Accidents are bound to happen, even if the best of precautions are taken. Just yesterday, it was reported in the press that the Burj Dubai slated to be the tallest building in the world completed its 100th floor.

The Dubai Police and Civil Defence force were under immense pressure as they battled the situation. Brigadier Dr Jamal Mohammed Al-Merri, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police stated to the press, “As far as the critical part of bringing the fire under control was concerned, this was done within about 45 minutes. However, the rescue as well as the aid and assistance operations carried on at the accident site for another six hours approximately.”

In the mid-seventies, New York city faced a similar situation as the New York Skyline began to sprout skyscrapers. The public and media at large wondered how would a simple disaster be tackled in such towering buildings. The Empire State Building, the Twin Towers and other building were coming up faster than what a fire ladder could reach. Hollywood giants 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers combined their resources, with a budget of $14 million (over $58 million adjusted for inflation 1974-2005) to produce the movie "The Towering Inferno".

'The Towering Inferno' became a blockbuster in the seventies and is it still widely acclaimed. The movie aimed to portray hypothetically what a probable real life situation could be like. The screenplay may have been inspired by the catastrophic fires in the Andraus Building in 1972 and the Joelma Building 1974, both in São Paulo, Brazil.

Andraus Building was a 115 metre tall skyscraper with 32 floors in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was completed in 1962. In 1972, a large fire caused the death of several persons trapped inside.
Joelma Building was a 25 floor skyscraper in Sao Paulo, Brazil, located at 225 Avenue. On 9th July, a fire broke out at 08:50 (11:50 GMT) when there was an explosion in an air conditioner, in 20 minutes, the whole building was on fire, the fire ended at 13:30. Of the 765 persons in the building, 422 were rescued, 189 killed (49 jumped to their death from the building, 13 killed in the elevator, 127 killed due to carbon poisoning) and 345 were wound.

Today, the unfinished 'Fortune Building' in the Jumeirah Lake Towers development, will be added to the list of high rise fires and casualties. When Dubai grows and strives to excel in the art of building the highest buildings on earth, it must also set precedent and invest in inventing and innovation of safety measures for high rise buildings.

Questions must also be asked based on the facts reported by Gulf News, "I got a call from workers inside crying: 'we don't want to die, please help us," said Moataz Khalil, the general supervisor at the construction site. "The staircase from the beginning of the 15th floor was locked and I had to unlock all the doors," he said."

May the souls of those who have lost their lives rest in peace, and a prayer for the others battling for their lives in the hospitals.

“A danger foreseen is half avoided” ~ Proverb

Open Mind - Free Thoughts

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Dubai Tower Inferno

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From 20 February 2007