Residents of Dubai’s Marina Pinnacle tower were waiting on Monday for news of when they can return to the fire-stricken building.
Groups of people, many of them visibly emotional, waited on the footpaths outside the charred high-rise for updates. Streets around the building, informally known as “Tiger tower”, were still cordoned off and scores of fire engines, water lorries and emergency workers remained at the scene.
The smell of smoke was strong and the building had severe scorch marks on several sides. Damage was pronounced at the top of the tower where the fire began. Authorities said 3,800 people were evacuated from the 67-storey building during the blaze, which began on Friday night with residents reporting repeated flare-ups in the hours after.
“Many of us are sleepless,” said Denis, one of the building’s residents, who is originally from the UK. He would not share his surname.
He said Civil Defence crews managed to reach his room on the 52nd floor and found his passport and heavily smoke-damaged laptop, but “three bedrooms of the four-bedroom apartment are entirely burnt”. “My roommates likely lost everything,” he added.
Another resident waiting outside the building said he was hoping to hear news about his documents inside. “We are just waiting for updates,” said Raju, an Indian resident who also wouldn't share his surname, who was at the high-rise with a friend. “They're asking us to come back.”
Raju’s employer had provided him with a place to stay but his documents were still inside. “That’s why we are waiting here,” he said.
All residents who spoke to The National praised firefighters for their rapid response, those crews going in to retrieve items and the generosity of people who were donating food, supplies and offering accommodation. Many residents were also taken to hotels in the immediate aftermath of the fire but it is not clear if all affected were provided with a room.
“I stayed in a four-star hotel,” said Igor, a resident originally from Russia who lived above the 50th floor. “They give you food, drink, breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
'Helpless and heartbroken'
Igor, who was also reluctant to share his surname, said he didn’t know when he could return, though his landlord has said the apartment is safe. “Updates have been through the WhatsApp group,” he said, referring to a support group established after the blaze that now has more than a thousand members.
“The WhatsApp group has a lot of helpless and heartbroken people looking for answers,” said Denis. “We want to be able to access the building to retrieve any belongings that we have left and be sure it is safe to access. The amount of people who have lost everything is crazy.”
He said only the Civil Defence were accessing the building and that people were queuing for “five hours” to ask them if it was possible to enter, but that it depended on the safety of their particular floor and other factors.
While a cause for the fire has not yet been established and the investigation continues, most residents said they were alerted to the fire by seeing it themselves, through fellow residents or by a call or message from someone outside the building.
In a note sent to residents by the property management company and seen by The National, it said the building remains “unfit for safe occupancy as assessments and restoration efforts are still ongoing”.
“The safety and well-being of all residents remains a top priority, and we are closely following updates from the concerned building management and relevant authorities,” it said. It is believed some rooms in the building had been converted into bed-space partitions.
Residents of the tower have also praised the outpouring of community support for helping them get through a traumatic few days. “It has really brought the community together,” said Denis. “That was really beautiful.”
Nitya Prakhar, who was staying in a short-term let on the 25th floor, expressed similar sentiments. “You see this T-shirt, this bag, the food that I'm eating right now, the money that I have – everything was given to me … by the people,” he said. “They gave me everything that I would need to live a decent life.”
Mr Prakhar said his passport was still inside and that although he hasn’t been able to get in yet but, he is thankful. “l'm so grateful for the support of everyone,” he said. “Thank you so much, it really really means a lot to us.”
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
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Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
SHAITTAN
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The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
