At least two workers were killed and 57 injured when a fire broke out on Thursday in a tower block under construction in Dubai, the trading hub of the United Arab Emirates, state news agency WAM said.
An official at Rashid hospital said four workers were killed in the fire.
”Three bodies were found on the scene and another died before arriving at Rashid Hospital,” a hospital official told Reuters.
WAM said 280 Asian workers were trapped in the building before rescue teams evacuated them after fire broke out in the 37-storey development.
”The fire took place suddenly in one of the residential towers that are under construction,” it quoted an unnamed official as saying.
”Fire started in the electricity and sewage pipes in the upper floors starting from the 31st,” it added without mentioning what caused the fire.
Earlier, another official at the hospital said 15 of those injured were in serious condition.
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority — a state body which set up a free-trade zone where the building is located — said it would support an investigation into the cause of the incident without giving further details.
Witnesses said civil defence teams fought to rescue workers trapped by the flames in the building, located in a major development area of the city where dozens of skyscrapers are being built.
A civil defence department official told Reuters rescue operations were still under way and that a statement on the incident would be issued later on Thursday.
Most construction workers in the UAE are Asians, mainly from the Indian subcontinent. – Reuters