SHARJAH // Fire gutted five shops and three electronics warehouses in an industrial area yesterday morning, destroying merchandise worth millions of dirhams.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
The fire, which began at about 7.30am, may have been sparked by an electrical short circuit in an electronics shop, according to Col Rashid Marwan Buafra, the Sharjah Civil Defence official supervising the fire-fighting.
He cautioned, however, that investigators needed to complete their work before the cause could be known with certainty. Most of the gutted shops sold home appliances and consumer electronics. One shop housed a printing press.
Col Buafra, who said firemen arrived in less than five minutes, attributed the significant losses in the four-hour blaze to the high density of storage within a small area.
Asad al Ikhtiyal estimated that he lost goods worth Dh10 million (US$2.7m) in his home appliance shop, Electroline.
Mr al Ikhtiyal, 50, from Lebanon, said he had operated the shop for two decades. He declined to say whether the business was insured. "I lost everything, that's all; [I] am a poor man like any other," he said.
Police cordoned off the area around the fire and closed several roads, slowing traffic in the area to a snail's pace.
Abdul Saleem Antuire, 40, an Indian who works as a watchman at the store Best Buys, said he woke up to the sound of explosions - possibly detonating gas cylinders - in a nearby shop and ran from his quarters. The fire swept through the building where he had been sleeping.
"I did not think of carrying anything from my room," Mr Antuire said. "All I wanted was my life. I feel relieved that I managed to survive."
Abdul Aziz Mohammed, the owner of Best Buys, said two of his warehouses were gutted but that firemen saved the shop he has operated for 25 years.
"I have lost about Dh2 million," he said.
ykakande@thenational.ae
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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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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Programme
Saturday, October 26: ‘The Time That Remains’ (2009) by Elia Suleiman
Saturday, November 2: ‘Beginners’ (2010) by Mike Mills
Saturday, November 16: ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ (2013) by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
Tuesday, November 26: ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) by Alan J Pakula
Saturday, December 7: ‘Timbuktu’ (2014) by Abderrahmane Sissako
Saturday, December 21: ‘Rams’ (2015) by Grimur Hakonarson
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
