ABU DHABI // A five-storey residential and retail building was evacuated on Sunday afternoon after flames began spewing out of a corner unit on the second floor.
Witnesses say the fire broke out around 4pm and flames were seen billowing from the second-floor corner unit and quickly spreading to the balconies above.
By 6pm, firefighters had put out the fire, but light smoke lingered around the building and black soot covered its exterior through the fifth floor.
The building on Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street (Airport Road) is next to the Ramee Gardens Hotel Apartments and NBAD at the Al Falah Street intersection. It remained cordoned off and surrounded by Abu Dhabi police and firefighters as the investigation continued around 6pm.
Many of the residents stood across the street from their charred building waiting for the OK from civil defence to return home. The units on the back did not appear to have sustained any serious damage.
“I just got a call from a friend so I came to see what is happening, but I think our room is safe,” said 26-year-old Pakistani resident Adnan, who shares the unit with roommate Zain, 22.
The cause of the fire has not been released and police have not said whether anyone was injured.
rpennington@thenational.ae
