High-Rise Building Catches Fire in United Arab Emirates
A high-rise tower caught fire Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates and authorities said it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the blaze.
The sides of the 48-floor Abbco Tower in Sharjah saw flames shoot up them. The city neighbors Dubai.
Firefighters and police surrounded the tower, as did curious onlookers.
Authorities offered no immediate cause for the blaze.
The UAE, including skyscraper-studded Dubai, has suffered a spate of fires in its high-rises in recent years.
The reason for the blazes, building and safety experts say, is the material used for the buildings’ sidings, called aluminum composite panel cladding.
While some types of cladding can be made with fire-resistant material, experts say those that have caught fire in the UAE and elsewhere weren’t designed to meet stricter safety standards and often were put onto buildings without any breaks to slow or halt a possible blaze.
Photograph: Firefighters battle a blaze burning on the side of a high-rise building in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Photo credit: AP Photo/Jon Gambrell
Related:
- Fire Sweeps Through Dubai’s Tallest Residential Tower – Its 2nd Incident in 2 Years
- U.S. Building Owners Reviewing Structural Materials After London Tower Blaze
- Panel-Maker Arconic Sued in U.S. Over Losses Linked to London Tower Fire
- London Blaze-Tower Built with Cladding Used Across England
- Arconic Stops Selling Cladding for High-Rises After Grenfell Tower Tragedy
- Grenfell Tower Fire Puts Cloud over Energy Efficiency Industry’s Building Materials
- ABI Warned About Risks of Modern Building Materials Before Grenfell Tower Fire