AL AIN // Almost seven weeks after fire swept through a Central District apartment block, killing two people and injuring 14, families and businesses have yet to return to their homes and premises, or to receive compensation for the damage to their property. Business owners are also irate that repairs to the building cannot even begin until any trial connected to the fire has concluded. They said they were losing business every day.
"Since the fire, I have been trying to work out of my car," said Arif Abdullatif, chief executive of Abdulla al Kaabi Real Estate. "I have lost Dh100,000 [US$27,000] worth of furniture, partitioning and equipment in the fire and an untold amount of business since. "Initially we were told by the police that the investigation would take 10 days, but it has now been 40 days and the police have not given clearance to the electrical company to come in and do the repairs.
"The police have to give clearance for the electricity to be turned on, but they won't do that until the investigation is completed," a source at the building said. "We have repainted the interior and fixed the broken doors. All that remains is to repair the broken windows and clean the floors. "Many of the apartments are ready to be moved into but we are just awaiting the electricity." Abdulmanaf Zakariya, chief executive of the Eastern Holidays travel agency, also said he was desperate to return to his offices.
"I have been told that since there is the issue of blood money for the victims' families still being sorted out, the court has not given the police approval to issue the clearance letter for electrical repairs to begin," he said. Since the fire, Mr Zakariya has been forced to move his business back into its original offices in an adjoining building, which can barely accommodate the extra staff and equipment.
"This office was never meant to hold all these people in it," he said. "Look, we cannot even stand up straight, but we have to be here because this is our peak season with everyone wanting to travel abroad for the summer." The fire, on May 4, was started by an electrical fault in the basement. It spread swiftly and filled the three-storey building with smoke. The two men who died had jumped from the third floor to escape the fumes just minutes before rescuers arrived who would have saved them, according to a Civil Defence source.
"I remember the day of the fire well," said Emad Ibrahim, a 17-year-old Jordanian who lived in the building with his family. "My father had gone to pray but before leaving the building he saw and smelled smoke. He ran back to our flat and made us all go out on to the balcony and close the glass door behind us." Emad's father, Ahmad Ibrahim, added: "Once we were in the balcony, we were safe because the smoke could not reach us.
"We waited a few minutes calling for help, when firemen raised a ladder to our first-floor apartment and lowered us all to safety. "We were given oxygen in the ambulance bus and then transported to the hospital for a check-up." After the fire, the Ibrahim family and others were told by Al Ain Police that furnished flats had been arranged for them at Al Massa Hotel at the expense of the police for as long as they were displaced.
"We are very grateful to the police for giving us a place to stay," said Mr Ibrahim, "but there is no place like home. We look forward to moving back in." One resident said he was irate at having lost everything. He said he would file a lawsuit against the building's owner if he were not compensated. "My family suffered losses in the tens of thousands of dirhams," he said. "When the fire broke out, people rushed into my apartment, pulled down the curtains, tied them together and used them to climb down from the second floor.
"Everything is ruined including my family's clothes, furniture, my children's toys and a lot more." Mr Abdullatif, despite having suffered damage to his property and business, praised the police for moving quickly to come to the aid of the affected families. "Those people have children and the police did the right thing, but for us business owners, we have been left high and dry," he said. "The building's insurance does not cover our losses, it only covers repairs to the building. The longer this takes to sort out, the greater the loss to my business will be."
Police said their investigation was over, and the case had been referred to the public prosecution. ealghalib@thenational.ae