Eight sleeping workers rescued after carbon monoxide leak at worksite

Eight Asian workers have been rescued from suffocation after a fire caused a gas leak in Umm Al Quwain.

The workers were asleep at accommodation in an under-construction factory when carbon monoxide gas was released from an air-conditioning unit that was sat next to an electricity generator that went on fire.

A UAQ civil defence team rescued the men after the police operations room received a call at 3.26 pm on Saturday about the incident in Umm Al Thoub.

“We received a report saying that a number of workers were suffocating in an accommodation located in an under-construction factory. Ambulance and rescue teams were dispatched immediately,” said Colonel Hassan bin Surum, director general of Umm Al Quwain Civil Defence.

The workers were taken to Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in the emirate.

Colonel bin Surum asked company owners and contractors in UAQ to avoid using generators and communicate with civil defence to arrange for a temporary power line to be installed, in coordination with the Federal Electricity and Water Authority, to ensure site safety.