by Naveen Frank - Daijiworld News Network - Sharjah

Sharjah, Oct 21: Amidst the blast of fire crackers and flying rockets, the busy Rolla locality of Sharjah in the UAE heard the screeching sirens of police vans and fire engines early this evening.

A 10 storey glass structured residential building was on fire at approximately 7.30 pm UAE time. As soon as the fire engines and police rolled in, hundreds of Diwali and Eid shoppers rushed to the scene to catch a glimpse of the rescue operations.

Rolla area in Sharjah is packed at this time of the festive season. It is a miracle that the huge fire truck managed to wriggle its way through the heavy evening traffic and contain the fire in time.  Electricity was cut off and fire personnel went into the smoke filled building with protective masks and pulled out the last of the occupants in about half an hour.

Speaking to Daijiworld.com on anonymity the  Brigadier in charge of the operations said that fire was contained and all occupants taken to safety. The police and fire personnel however, were tight lipped on the cause of the fire.  Asked if it could be the fire crackers that was the cause, the Brigadier said that investigation is on and no comment could be given. He did not, however, rule out the possibility.

The sale and use of fire crackers is officially banned in the UAE. But the authorities turn a blind eye on it.  Most people celebrating Diwali get the fire crackers from India when on holiday or get them  from unofficial  vendors in the UAE.  The risk factor is very high as the buildings are clustered and there is no open space to fire these potentially dangerous fire crackers.  There have been many fire hazards in the past in the UAE , owing  to the carelessly mishandled fire crackers.

This evening’s incident however did not cause any injury to the people but the fact remains that in the next couple of days  somebody else  may not be lucky enough.