SOURCE: THE NATIONAL

Police are investigating the cause of a fire that ripped through a villa housing hundreds of labourers in Dubai. Authorities confirmed 11 men died in the fire.

Dubai - Aug 27: A fire ripped through a two-storey villa complex housing hundreds of labourers on Aug 26, killing at least 11 and injuring many more.

The workers, employed in different companies, were asleep when the fire spread through the house just after 5am. Panic-stricken men jumped out from upstairs windows to escape from the intense blaze as it ravaged the two-storey villa.

Neighbours rushed to the assistance of several men who had run out of the burning villa with their clothes on fire.

Civil Defence rescue teams continued to dig through the wreckage of the 30-room housing complex last evening looking for bodies. The charred remains of three victims could be seen lying on their beds in the rubble, suggesting they died in their sleep.

Abdul Jaleel Mahdi Mohammed, deputy director of preventive security at Dubai Police, earlier said 10 Indian men were missing, of whom seven were known to be dead. Mr Mahdi, who was present at the site, said the police were investigating the cause of the fire.

Shankar Palep broke his hand after he jumped to safety from his room on the
second floor. However, he could not rescue his 45-year-old brother Gangaram, who was charred to death. "When I opened my eyes it was fire everywhere. My best chance was to jump out from the window," said Mr Palep, who has been employed in Dubai for the last nine years.

"I lost my brother and I am left with only the clothes I am wearing. Our passports, money and every valuable collected after coming here is destroyed," said the grief stricken man.

Shocked witnesses described men running out of the villa while they were on fire. "We threw blankets on them to douse the fire. They were rushed to the hospital," said Akram Ali, who lives opposite the villa.

Dubai Civil Defence officials said yesterday that the fire was almost inevitable as the villa complex was illegally divided into dozens of small rooms and flammable substances such as gas cylinders were lying around. Workers living in the villa claim there were about 30 rooms in it, each accommodating as many as 20 people.

"There were easily 500 people living in the villa but most just come here to sleep and go away for work in the morning," said Shankar.

The fire is thought to have started in the kitchen of the villa behind Naif Police Station, near to the California Hotel at about 5.30 this morning. Since the villa is in close proximity to the Naif Police station, Civil Defence rescuers arrived at the villa in minutes and swiftly brought the blaze under control. They immediately evacuated neighbouring villas for fear that the fire may spread.