Breaking: Abu Dhabi blasts a 'sinful' attack by Houthi militia says senior UAE official
Three petroleum tankers exploded in Abu Dhabi after a fire broke out near Adnoc storage tanks on Monday, leaving three people dead and six injured.
The explosions happened in ICAD 3, Mussaffah, near Mohamed bin Zayed City at around 10am.
Abu Dhabi Police said it resulted in the death of one Pakistani and two Indians and the injury of six others. Their injuries were mild to moderate.
A smaller fire was also reported in the new construction area of Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Emergency services personnel rushed to the scenes. Police later confirmed the fires were brought under control.
Preliminary investigations suggest small flying objects, "possibly related to drones", fell into the areas and started the fires, state news agency Wam reported. Authorities have launched an investigation.
At this time, the entire Adnoc family extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of our colleagues who died this morning
Adnoc statement
Adnoc said in a statement: "At approximately 10.00am this morning, an incident occurred at our Mussaffah Fuel Depot in Abu Dhabi which resulted in the outbreak of a fire.
"Emergency response teams, including civil defence, fire and ambulance responders as well as an Adnoc emergency response team quickly attended the scene, and the fire was brought under control and extinguished.
"Adnoc is deeply saddened to confirm that three colleagues have died. A further six colleagues were injured and received immediate specialist medical care.
"Professional support teams are supporting the families of all those who have been impacted.
"At this time, the entire Adnoc family extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of our colleagues who died this morning.
"We are working closely with the relevant authorities to determine the exact cause and a detailed investigation has commenced."
At the airport, a small fire in an under-construction extension was reported.
Etihad Airways said there was limited disruption to flights. Services soon resumed as normal.
Houthis blamed for deliberate blast
Speaking on Monday night, a top Emirati official said the explosions were a deliberate and "sinful attack on civilian facilities" by Yemen's Houthi militia,
Dr Anwar Gargash, an special adviser to the UAE president, described the group as "terrorist militia" after two blasts in the capital.
Dr Gargash said: "Authorities in the UAE are dealing transparently and responsibly with the sinful Houthi attack on some civilian facilities in Abu Dhabi’."
He went on to say that "the tampering of terrorist militias with the stability of the region is too weak to affect the journey of security and safety that we live in, and the fate of this reckless and absurdity will be demise and defeat".
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
Results
3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).
3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.
5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.
5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
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