Residents of Dubai Marina building move to hotels, stay with friends after blaze

A massive fire broke out late on Friday in a 67-storey residential and commercial tower in Dubai Marina, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate and find shelter.

- SM Ayaz Zakir

The fire broke out in the upper floors of the Tiger Tower - also known as Marina Pinnacle - in the busy district at about 9.30pm. While some residents waited outside as firefighters battled the blaze, others checked into nearby hotels or took refuge at friends' homes.

Many residents said fire alarms didn’t go off and they had no idea there was a fire in the building until they smelled smoke or got calls from friends. Thick smoke made stairwells unusable for some, forcing them to rely on elevators to escape. Several residents spent the entire night outdoors before securing temporary shelter.

"I was on the 24th floor with my wife when we started smelling something like burning wires around 9:45 pm," said one resident. "We checked everything inside the apartment, including the kitchen, but found nothing.

"When we stepped onto the balcony, we saw fire crews arriving and people gathering outside. That's when we got a call from a friend who was visiting us that he wasn’t allowed in because of a fire. Still, there was no alarm, no official notice. Only when we called building security did they tell us to evacuate," he added.

He recalled that the stairwell was full of smoke, so they had to take the elevator, “which thankfully worked”.