A deadly fire in a Dubai residential building on Saturday claimed the lives of doting fathers and a loving single mother who were the primary providers for their families.
Dubai residents told of the heartache and pain the fatal fire had brought for families who depended on the men and women killed in the fire.
Sixteen people were killed and nine injured when a blaze erupted on the fourth floor of an apartment block in Deira, a crowded Dubai neighbourhood, on Saturday afternoon.
Three Pakistani men, a Cameroonian single mother and an Egyptian father were the sole breadwinners of their families.
We have cried all our tears. This is a shock and very heavy for my family to bear
Alain Awunglefac on losing his 28-year-old sister Nicoline Abinkeng
Witnesses and those who escaped from the blaze reported hearing a blast. They said thick smoke that quickly filled the corridor on the top floor made it difficult for residents to escape.
Dubai Civil Defence authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. Preliminary investigations indicate that poor safety standards and a lack of compliance with security standards caused the fire, according to authorities.
Four Indians, three Pakistanis, six Sudanese, one Cameroonian, one Egyptian and one Jordanian, were killed in the fire.
‘I still hear them screaming for help’
Relatives in Dubai have spent the past few days completing the documentation and clearances required to send the bodies of their loved ones home.
The bodies of the three Pakistani men — Muhammad Bilal, Umar Farooq and Muhammad Sajjad — reached their families on Tuesday.
Friends posted videos on Facebook showing hundreds of mourners gathered outside their homes in Dera Ghazi Khan, in south-west Pakistan, to accompany the bodies to the funeral ground.
Each of the men had three to four children and large families who depended on them, said Mohammed Jamil, a cousin who lived in the same building.
“Telling our families that they died in a fire has been the worst thing I have had to do,” said Mr Jamil, who had a lucky escape as he was praying in a nearby mosque.
“Their children depend on them. They came here to work hard for a good life for their families and now there is nothing.
“We are there for their families but it is not the same.”
Minutes before the fire began, he chatted with his cousin Mr Bilal who wanted to rest for a while.
The accident has scarred Mr Jamil who was on the phone with the men as the flames engulfed the floor they were trapped on.
“I keep crying. I cannot stop crying. I still hear them yelling and screaming, asking us to help,” Mr Jamil said.
“Bilal called me saying, ‘There is a fire, save us.’
“I could do nothing, we were not allowed to go in.”
Police and fire officials cordoned off the building for the safety of residents and onlookers who gathered in an open space in front as the fire raged on Saturday.
On Tuesday, red and white security tape remains stretched around the perimeter.
The top floor balconies are blackened and charred, with the metal railings melted by the intensity of the blaze.
On the lower floor balconies, rows of clothes remain spread across drying lines.
'Everything is gone'
Residents had fled their homes, leaving doors and windows thrown open.
They have since been permitted to enter their residences to gather essentials.
“Everything is gone, they are no more. What will I do with my luggage when we don’t have them,” Mr Jamil said.
“We would sit for hours and hours and talk. They always helped people who were new to Dubai.”
Mr Bilal and Umar Farooq worked in a project management company and Mr Sajjad was employed by an air-conditioner repair firm.
They had worked in Dubai for more than 12 years.
Relatives in Pakistan have shared photographs of the men on Facebook and videos taken of them sharing iftar in the UAE.
“Dua karo (please pray for them)”, says one post.
Young mother with big dreams
A grieving brother said his younger sister’s aspirations for her family were snatched away by the tragedy.
Nicoline Abinkeng, 28, did not go into work on Saturday as she was upset after hearing that her father in Cameroon needed to go to hospital with a stomach ailment.
“She was crying the whole night on Friday and could not go to work on Saturday because she was just too troubled,” said Alain Awunglefac, her brother.
Ms Abinkeng was a chef who worked in a restaurant serving West African cuisine. She had lived in Dubai for seven years.
A single mother, she had a 13-year-old daughter who was being looked after by a sister at home.
“She was supposed to go to work and if she went to work that day, she would have been safe,” Mr Awunglefac said.
“Nicky was lying in bed when a friend rushed in and said they had to leave because of a fire.”
She shared a room with six other girls, one of whom was in the room with her.
Two other friends from Cameroon managed to escape by jumping down to floors below but they lost her in the fire.
“The others got injured in the fall and some got burnt, but they are alive. My sister did not make it,” he said.
“Her biggest dream was to work hard and save for her daughter and our parents.
“She was so popular and was the best chef.
“We have cried all our tears. This is a shock and something that is very heavy for my family to bear.”
A devoted father
Walid El Gamal, 51, an Egyptian father-of-three, was due to start work as a Dubai cab driver after Eid.
Mr Gamal leaves behind children aged nine, seven and three. He worked in Kuwait for 20 years, and Egypt, before moving to the UAE to search for work last year.
His family suspect that he died as he was asleep in a room shared with friends who were not in the building when the fire broke out.
“He got his new residency. He had a new job and had completed his training with the RTA,” said Radwan Haitham, Mr Gamal’s brother-in-law.
“Walid was so happy. He was very intelligent and kind. He had big dreams to work and continue his life for his family in Dubai.”
Mr Haitham said his sister in Egypt spoke to her husband daily and was anxious when calls went unanswered on Saturday.
“I told her it may be network or battery issues,” he said.
“I asked his friends, ‘Where is Walid?’, and that is when we heard of the fire.
“Now I’m focused on getting the paperwork done and sending his body to Egypt.
“This is too hard for my sister and his family. It is too difficult for us.”
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
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Final: June 1, Madrid
THE BIO: Mohammed Ashiq Ali
Proudest achievement: “I came to a new country and started this shop”
Favourite TV programme: the news
Favourite place in Dubai: Al Fahidi. “They started the metro in 2009 and I didn’t take it yet.”
Family: six sons in Dubai and a daughter in Faisalabad
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m; Winner: Mcmanaman, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Bawaasil, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Bochart, Fabrice Veron, Satish Seemar
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Mutaraffa, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Rare Ninja, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alfareeq, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Zorion, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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Company Profile
Company name: Big Farm Brothers
Started: September 2020
Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur
Based: Dubai Investment Park 1
Industry: food and agriculture
Initial investment: $205,000
Current staff: eight to 10
Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Results
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- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
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- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.
Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.
For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
