Sharjah Fire: Residents Watch In Horror As Man Falls To Death Trying To Escape Blaze

A day after the deadly fire in a residential tower in Sharjah's Al Nahda killed five people , several residents of the area expressed shock and disbelief on Monday.

One delivery boy said he could not sleep all night after watching the residents trying to escape the blaze and a man fall to his death.

"We saw the smoke and gathered around the building,” he said (requesting anonymity).“We saw two men trying to slide down the building facade, holding on to the wires. One man succeeded; he had wrapped thick cloth around both his palms and made it safely to the ground. Another man tried to do the same, but I doubt he had anything around his palms. He held on to the wires for a while, but we could see his hands were trembling, and he eventually gave up. We watched in horror as he fell to his death. People around me screamed and gasped in shock. It was terrifying. We all felt helpless as the only thing we could do was watch."

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For Indian expat Rahela, who lives in the opposite building, it was a sight she would never forget.“My family and I woke up to the sound of the fire engines and when we looked out of the balcony, we could see people at the window of the affected building waving their hands and asking for help,” she said.“We could see the flames and the thick smoke. I think it got too hot for the men and two of them jumped. Two tried to climb down the wires but were unable to. We saw the four men fall to death within a span of minutes.”

She said her university-going son is yet to recover from the shock of the events.“Soon after the incident, he began vomiting,” she said.“It was too much for him to handle. I think it will take a few days for him to come to terms with the tragic incidents. It was truly such a sad loss of lives.”

The fire, which erupted on the 44th floor of the residential tower, claimed five lives; six others were severely injured, and one resident suffered from smoke inhalation. Those injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment at Al Qassimi Hospital, and their condition is reported to be stable.

There was an eerie silence when Khaleej Times visited the blaze site on Monday morning. However, neither the building nor the surroundings looked like it had witnessed such a tragic incident the previous day. Everything looked calm, and people went about their day as usual.

According to people in the area, residents were allowed back into their houses late at night.“At around 11pm on Sunday, many of them were allowed back into their apartments,” said a stationary store assistant.

There was construction work, including plastering and painting, ongoing on the exterior of the building, with steel wires extending from the roof to the beams erected around the building. According to eyewitnesses, some of the victims tried to escape by climbing onto these wires from their windows.

"I think that the construction work helped to reduce the fatalities,” said a resident in the area.“Before this, the tower had cladding , which was commonly found in Sharjah buildings. However, in recent times, building owners have been asked to remove the cladding because they are flammable. Recently they had removed the cladding from this building, and the repainting procedure was underway. Otherwise, I feel the fatalities would have been much higher."

The Sharjah Civil Defence said the fire was reported at 11.30am. Firefighting units from multiple stations rushed to the scene, evacuated residents, and brought the fire under control.

One supermarket owner said he was still in disbelief.“We had a delivery order just half an hour before the fire broke out, to one of the apartments on the floor where the blaze is believed to have started,” said M.K.

"I don't have a direct view of the building, but one of our delivery boys saw thick plumes billowing out. There was a sandstorm going on at that time. We all gathered around, watching people panic and try to escape. It's still hard to process what happened.”

A restaurant manager said he had met one of the deceased the previous day.“The men used to come here for meals very often,” he said.“I had met them the previous day and exchanged pleasantries. They were very nice people.”

Eyewitnesses said the community rushed to help the building residents who were stranded out of their homes.“All the supermarkets and groceries in the area rushed out, handing out water bottles and juices to the people,” said Teresa, a Nigerian expat who resides in the area.“At night, some restaurants sent food as well. It was heartening to see everyone helping out how they could.”

According to some who lived in the area, the affected building had many bachelors living there.“Many rooms in the building had multiple people living together,” said Mohammed.“The rent was reasonable, so it was popular for room-sharing spaces and bachelor's accommodation.”

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