Abu Dhabi’s Al Wahda Mall closed after overnight blaze

ABU DHABI // An overnight blaze forced the closure of one of Abu Dhabi’s busiest shopping centres on Wednesday.

Entrances to Al Wahda Mall were cordoned off with police tape as dozens of officers and firefighters investigated.

Employees gathered outside said they had been given little information and only found out about the fire when they arrived for work.

Firefighters from stations including Khalifa A, Al Bateen, Al Falah and Al Medina responded to the blaze.

The fire started about midnight in a storage unit in the upper floors, according to a fireman who asked not to be identified.

He said the store next to the unit had been completely destroyed and smoke damage and dangerous fumes from the blaze forced authorities to close the shopping centre.

Another fireman said it would probably take all day before the smoke and fumes cleared.

“We arrived early to work and they did not allow us to go inside,” said Ameena Buhay, 29, a Filipina who works at the Damas jewellery store.

“Nobody explained what happened. We have no idea, only that it is a fire.”

Suzzette Monzon, 33 and also from the Philippines, works at the mall’s Sugar Free shop.

“There is no mall operating today,” said Ms Monzon. “They already confirmed the mall is closed today.”

Many were waiting for more information from their district supervisors.

“We should be able to know what is going on in the store,” said an employee of Dome cafe.

He said the cafe served about 250 customers a day.

“We never closed our store before this fire,” the employee said. “It’s a big loss, of course it’s a big loss.

He said many of the restaurant’s 30 employees were given the day off or reassigned to another branch.

“What can you do? Accidents happen,” he said. “It’s a valid reason, [customers] will understand.”

Leonardo Bello, manager of Al Fardan Exchange, was concerned about the loss of business for a day.

“Yes of course, because now is salary time, so those customers should be there,” Mr Bello said.

The fire also forced the closure of LuLu Hypermarket and the Al Wadha Mall extension.

“We have no serious issues as a result of the fire,” said Nanda Kumar, spokesman for LuLu, disputing rumours the supermarket flooded due to the fire extinguishers.

“There is smoke across the mall, so that is the only thing preventing us from opening.”

Mr Kumar said he would meet mall management on Wednesday night to decide whether to reopen the supermarket on Thursday.

By 11.30am the crowds of employees and onlookers had dispersed as police cleared the scene.

No one was injured, firefighters said.

The head of public relations and customer service at Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, Capt Abdullah Al Tamimi, said that firefighters had cooled the area to prevent the fire from sparking up again, and that its cause was being investigated.

Al Wahda Mall has doubled in size since it opened in 2007.

It now houses more than 350 brands over an area of 3.3 million square feet.

It has won the “Best Shopping Mall in Abu Dhabi” award three times.

rpennington@thenational.ae