Big hearts of Dubai leaders, residents 'Address' fire victims

Dubai - The Interior Minister praised the successful management of the accident site, which allowed the evacuation of hotel guests and visitors in record time.

It was not just Dubai's resilience that came to the fore when the vibrant city welcomed the New Year with stunning fireworks despite a major fire accident in the same neighbourhood of Burj Khalifa.
Dubai's leaders and residents showed their big hearts once again after the Address Downtown Hotel witnessed the blaze that engulfed the luxury hotel when the world was celebrating the arrival of 2016.
Lt-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister of the country personally followed up the firefighting operations at the Address Downtown Hotel, while a son of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, joined the civil defence personnel to douse the fire.
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14 hurt as fire raged through The Address hotel
Social media posts showed the picture of Shaikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as one of the firefighters at the site. In an image posted on Twitter, he was shown dressed in the civil defence personnel's gear. The posts related to this received massive response.
Meanwhile, some Dubai residents opened their doors to the fire victims through the social media. Shelina @shelo9 and Daniel @danielmarevans were among the first to start tweeting about the helping hands that await those affected in the fire.
Their Tweets with the hash tag #NeedAnAddress were followed by a flood of offers from residents and hotels in Dubai offering shelter for the displaced guests at the luxury hotel.
Within minutes the hash tag went viral and received millions of impressions in hours. Some of the affected replied seeking help.
However, it is not clear how many managed to get help through Twitter.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com