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A fire brigade officer was injured while rescuing three of a family trapped in an apartment that caught fire in a residential building on busy Zayed the First Street, widely known as Electra Street, in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Rescue personnel trying to reach the apartments that caught fire in the building on Electra Street in Abu Dhabi on Thursday afternoon.— Supplied photo
According to local residents, the fire broke out in the apartment on the16th floor around 1pm. It soon spread to five others including some on the 17th floor.
“The rescue operation was rapid that saved many lives,” said an employee of popular Ibrahimi Restaurant located on the ground floor of the building.
The Abu Dhabi Police said four persons suffered minor to critical injuries, including a Civil Defence rescue officer. All of them were rushed to nearby Shaikh Khalifa Medical City.
Three residents also suffered from smoke inhalation but were treated on the spot by police paramedics.
In a statement, Colonel Obaid Al Za’abi of Safety and Public Relations at the Civil Defence Directorate, said the fire erupted around 1pm and the directorate got the call within minutes and rescue teams were on site without any loss of time.
“We deployed all our resources, including the Air Wing, to the site to avoid casualties. We started a simultaneous operation by reaching out to the trapped and evacuating the building,” the official said.
Al Za’abi further added the teams included fire engines, ambulances from the nearby City Centre Civil Defence Stations as well as police forensic experts.
Another officer on the scene, Captain Mahmoud Karam Al Khoury, said an investigation is already underway to determine the cause of the fire.
It caused a heavy traffic jam for half an hour with spectators stopping and nearby residents flocking to the building. However, traffic police and civil defence teams dispersed the spectators to make rescue operation smooth.
“It is a very crowded building in the heart of the city. The fire was big that destroyed everything in the affected flat. But, thank God, there were no loss of lives,” said Samiuddin (Sami), a grocer in the area.
He also said local residents were also cooperative and helped in the rescue the victims and evacuation of the building.
“Luckily, it was afternoon when the majority of the building’s residents were not there and it was easy to evacuate it,” he added.
Noor Gajian, another area resident, said the entire stretch of the Electra Street was blocked by Abu Dhabi Police and Civil Defence for swift rescue operation.
“I was not allowed to cross the road. I had to cross three traffic signals around three blocks to reach my apartment,” he added.
nissar@khaleejtimes.com
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