It was business as usual at Dubai’s Dragon Mart mall on Monday after a fire caused serious damage to the exterior of the building at the weekend. A fire that started in waste bins outside the mall on Sunday quickly spread to cars and set the exterior of the building alight. Firefighters from Dubai Civil Defence reached the scene within minutes of the incident being reported and managed to bring it under control within 10 minutes, at around 5.15pm. On Monday, the full extent of the damage was clear. Two large sections of the building were charred from floor to ceiling. Safety fences were set up around the incident site, which is located near International City, but the shopping mall was open as usual. During a walk-through of the mall, <i>The National </i>noted no damage to the interior of the building and traders operated as usual. No injuries or deaths were reported as a result of the fire. Dragon Mart is the region's largest mall and trading centre for Chinese products. It opened in December 2007 and houses more than 6,000 shops and kiosks offering everything from garden and office furniture, to lighting and tools. According to the Dragon Mart website, the mall, which runs along Al Awir Road towards Hatta, can have more than 40 million customers a year.
