Smoke engulfs building near Mega Mall after fire destroys flat

Police and Civil Defence personnel evacuated families from a three-storey building in Abu Dang area near Mega Mall on Tuesday after an apartment caught fire.

Tenants being evacuated from a building near Sharjah Mega Mall after an apartment caught fire on Tuesday. — KT photos by M. Sajjad

Families were evacuated through windows and balconies as the fire spread in the first-floor apartment.

An official at the Civil Defence said the fire started in the kitchen and thick smoke engulfed the building, causing suffocation to tenants.

The fire destroyed the apartment, which was empty, completely. The official said the fire brigades reached the building in five minutes after they were alerted by residents in the area and controlled the fire before it spread to other apartments and nearby buildings.

The police and Civil Defence evacuated the tenants and rushed some of them who suffered suffocation after inhaling smoke to the hospital for suffering from suffocation. Civil defense rescue team used ladders outside the building to evacuate families and children.

Afkarali@khaleejtimes.com