A major fire that engulfed a 15-storey residential tower on Saturday night originated in an eatery’s kitchen in the same building, according to authorities.

The initial reports indicated that the fire broke out in the chimney of Rukn Al Sultan restaurant’s kitchen in the building on Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Road, also known as Airport Road in Abu Dhabi, said the Ministry of Interior on its official Instagram account.

The fire started at around 10 pm on Saturday and was brought under control as residents were evacuated safety by civil defence and police teams. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Major General Jasem Al Marzouqi, General Commander of the Civil Defence in the Ministry of Interior, said the civil defence teams reached the spot within four minutes.

They used snorkel ladders to extinguish the fire that broke out in the building, he said

Tenants said they hardly slept the night after their terrifying ordeal. They were given temporary hotel accommodation by the UAE Red Crescent Authority.

Four businesses in the building, including Rukn Al Sultan restaurant, remained closed when Gulf News visited the site on Sunday morning.

A Filipino resident of the building recounted the experience: “While I was taking a bath my sister was banging on the door, telling me I had to get out, because the building was on fire. I just grabbed the bathrobe and slippers, put them on and ran down the stairs.”

An Indian tenant said: “We had no time to take any of our belongings with us, all I thought of is to leave quickly and safely with my family. Civil Defence teams broke down our door and shouted telling us we had to evacuate. It was a terrifying feeling.”

Another tenant from the Philippines said: “My friend was sleeping over yesterday night, she was in the master bedroom, suddenly we heard her shout that she could smell smoke and see fire outside her window.”

An Indian resident was about to go to sleep when he heard people shouting and slamming doors telling people to get out of their apartments right away.

“I had no time to take anything with me, I just put on my slippers and ran down the stairs with my family,” he said.

His wife said that Civil Defence teams arrived immediately and it took about an hour to bring the fire under control.

Another Indian resident said his family was unaware of the development as their flat was on the unaffected part of the building. When they saw civil defence vehicles, they realised that something was wrong.

“So my husband and I grabbed our two kids and ran down the stairs in our nightwear,” she said.

Some tenants and their newborn babies were taken to a nearby mosque because of the extreme cold weather at night, she said.

Several tenants who came back to pick up some belongings said that their flats were a mess, and that the kitchen and the master bedroom sustained the most damage from the fire

source : gulfnews