Dubai hotel fire kills 2: Residents 'saw shattered windows' as smoke engulfed building

It was nearly midnight when a number of residents in Dubai's Baniyas Square saw "thick, black smoke" billowing out of a hotel near the Naif area on Friday.

Eyewitnesses said a blaze could have started at around 11.55pm and, within minutes, fire trucks and emergency response teams arrived at the site.

Two died of suffocation in the hotel fire accident, the Dubai Media Office confirmed in an advisory on Saturday morning.

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Khaleej Times visited the area on Saturday and spoke with eyewitnesses who recounted how "chaos" ensued after the blaze broke out.

"I suddenly heard screams," said a resident who owns an electronics shop nearby. He was supposed to close his store at 11pm but since it was Friday, more customers were coming in, so he remained open half an hour later.

He was about to shut his doors when he heard the commotion. "When I stepped out to check what was happening, I couldn’t make out much and went back inside to lock up. But just minutes later, the screams intensified. I saw two windows had shattered, and thick smoke was coming out. People were screaming from those windows," he said.

Another witness, Sharif (name changed upon his request), was walking home from work when he saw fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars rushing towards the area.

"As I got closer, I saw the whole road cordoned off, and even pedestrians were being redirected to other lanes,” he said.

Sharif said he also saw thick smoke billowing out of the hotel's windows. The blaze, however, wasn't visible, he added.

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