Dubai - Sulafa Tower fire tragedy victims still in disbelief, say they thought it was false alarm
Published: Thu 21 Jul 2016, 8:52 PM
Residents of Sulafa Tower were in total dismay when a safety alarm went off on Wednesday afternoon.
Among the victims of fire that struck the one of the tallest buildings in Dubai at 2.48 pm, was Syrian national Mohammad Ammar Al Bitar, who told that fire tragedy has struck him twice.
The Syrian national told Khaleej Times that he faced both Torch Tower and Sulafa fire tragedies.
Lamenting his bad luck, he said it's time again for him to find a new place.
Al Bitar, who lives on the 46th floor of Sulafa, said he was living in Torch Tower when fire erupted there and moved into Sulafa just 5 months back.
Both times when the buildings caught fire, he was inside the building. He used to live on the 61st floor of Torch.
"I like the view from the higher floors," said Ammar, who grabbed only his wallet and keys and started moving rapidly down the stairs in his slippers.
Looking at an elderly man, also a Sulafa resident, who was climbing down the stairs escorting two small kids, he said: "I lifted them up and climbed down 46 floors."
Pressing his arms as if to relieve the pain, Al Ammar said he was heading to his brother's place and he was left with no cash in his wallet.
His brother lives in The Gardens. "At least I will be near the mosque there if I die," he jokes, saying he doesn't want to be in any more buildings that catch fire.
"We thought it was a false alarm because any little bit of smoke triggers the alarm here," said Harsh Vardhan, an Indian living on the 9th floor with his wife.
Another resident told Khaleej Times he thought someone was cooking again and the smoke was causing the furious alarms.
'We just moved into this building'
Shivani Rai and family moved into the 23rd floor of Sulafa Tower only one day before before the building caught fire.
"The movers are still outside" said the mother of two, grappling with the situation. The family has just moved to Dubai after ten years in Abu Dhabi.
The kids were reeling from shock. Shivani trying to comfort them says their legs were shaking.
Maurya, 10, admits to being scared and not knowing what was happening when the alarm went off.
"I thought it was a false alarm, but when the announcement was made, we knew it was real," said the 6th grader managing a tiny smile.
His sister, 7-year-old Jia said: "We went out in the corridor and people were all leaving."
They took the stairs down. Everyone was trying not to panic and no one was racing down, Maurya added.
The lifts were closed, so we all walked down.
"Does he remember what time it was? "No, I forgot my watch upstairs", he said, adding that "and Jia left her teddy behind".
Shivani's husband was at work, and she was keeping him posted on the phone.
They have temporarily moved into a friend's place next door. The family is so far undecided on what they'll do next, vacate the building or stay on.
They feel the fire might not have affected their flat (number 2308), but can't be certain till residents are permitted to go up.
"Luckily, we didn't take the flat on the 50th floor," Maurya said, which was their initial plan.
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There were another set of people who while waiting outside in 41 degrees heat wondered whether it was to witness the fire they returned home early from office.
The fire erupted in the 75-storied building, one of the tallest building in Dubai, has left hundreds of residents stranded on Wednesday afternoon.
Will they allow us to go back?
Iman Boudarge, a Moroccan who lives on the 14th floor, was shocked to see fire trucks around her building. Her husband was to travel to Saudi and when Khaleej Times met her she was so anxious to know whether the residents would be allowed to go back into the building at night.
Simran Singh, an Indian living on the 57th floor, said she left her apartment without keys. She rushed down as calmly as she could with just her phone. She rang her husband Manjeet and he came home from his office in Jebel Ali immediately.
Simran said people on the stairs were still in disbelief asking each other if it was a false alarm. She heard furious thumping sounds when she was in the house and got a fright.
An Arab hospital worker, a resident of the 40th floor who didn't want her name to be published, said she usually does not panic, but this time it was different.
She said that she was asleep when she heard commotion outside and immediately grabbed her handbag and passport and flew out of the door, not taking any chances.
I was texting when fire erupted at 2.48pm
Resident of the 12th floor, Ian James said that it was exactly 2.48pm when the alarm when off because he texted someone right at that moment.
James has been living in Sulafa for 4 years. He left his flat with the keys and wallet, and isn't sure what to do next.
He said he went across the street to Café Martinez across the road to have a cup of tea.
There were also residents, some in groups with friends and neighbours, who said they were tired of talking about it and didn't want to say more.
Residents were spread across sections of Dubai Marina, some on Alkhayay Street, where chunks of burnt debris was landing, several by themselves towards MAG 218 and Pinnacle Tower.
In a gesture of goodwill, a Saudi resident of Sulafa Tower, went into Fresh Plus Point supermarket under the building MAG 218 and bought refreshments worth Dh194.50 for the residents stranded in the heat outside their homes.
She paid for water bottles, energy drinks, and 25 packets of salted wafers, all of which were then distributed by the delivery boys of the supermarket.
nivriti@khaleejtimes.com
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