One dies in labourer housing blaze

One man died and dozens of others lost their possessions and savings in a fire in labourers' quarters.

It took 90 minutes to bring the fire under control.

MUSAfFAH// One man died and dozens of others lost their possessions, including savings, in a fire in labourers' quarters yesterday afternoon. The fire broke out at accommodation belonging to Thermo LLC, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering and contracting company, at about 3.30pm. Six labourers were asleep on the first floor of the corrugated iron building that was home to 70 workers.

Maj Hussain Ali al Bishr, the director of operations of Musaffah Civil Defence, said the dead man was from India and had recently returned from a visit to his hometown. He was asleep when the fire started. One resident, Jaynul Ubddin, 22, from Bangladesh, broke down in tears when he arrived at the scene. He said he had lost Dh15,000 that he had borrowed from a friend to send to his mother, who suffered from a kidney problem.

"I don't know what I am going to do," he said, his face covered in sweat and tears. "I am just thinking about my poor mother. She's going to have a lot of problems and I won't find people to give me money again." Alongside him were dozens of roommates and co-workers, each of whom had lost either his salary or belongings. Ten fire and rescue appliances and four ambulances rushed to the fire, which was burning strongly when they arrived.

It took 90 minutes to get the flames under control. Workers from neighbouring businesses were ordered to evacuate the area as the fire department feared the blaze would quickly spread. "We were told to leave immediately because the buildings surrounding the one on fire possibly contained combustible materials," said Alam Rowshanara, 41, a Bangladeshi mechanic. "There is a kitchen unit that uses gas cylinders in the building unit and the fear was that they would explode."

The man's body was found when firemen entered the building after the fire had been put out. "Had this happened at night there would have been 70 people inside," said one labourer, who escaped with just a towel around his waist. "We were asleep when the fire broke out and were awoken by the ringing of someone's mobile phone. We saw the smoke and left immediately." A Thermo representative, Ismail Abu Shibli, said the labourers would be moved to alternative accommodation immediately.

Thermo LLC has 3,000 employees and holds several government contracts, worth more than Dh1.7 billion (US$462 million), including the expansion of Dubai International Airport (phase 2), the Rostamani Tower in Bur Dubai, the Jumeirah Beach Residence (package 3) and the Rose Rotana Tower developments. * The National