ABU DHABI // Hundreds of onlookers gathered on Electra Street yesterday as firemen tackled a blaze that broke out on the top floor of a 10-storey building behind the KFC restaurant.
Three fire teams managed to bring the blaze under control and prevent it from spreading to more than one apartment. No one was injured and the apartment was empty at the time, Maj Yasser al Qotairi, a spokesman for Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, said.
Shankar Manlimbu, 39, a Bangladeshi messenger who lives on the sixth floor of the building, rushed over as soon as he saw the fire.
He said a group of men, also from Bangladesh, were living inside the flat, although no one was home when the fire broke out at 1pm.
Maj al Qotairi said it was thought a gas cylinder had exploded inside.
Nerissa Barcenilla, 47, a Filipina who works at a dress shop nearby, and who also lives in the apartment block, said she was worried that the fire would spread to the lower floors where she and other Filipinos lived. "I stay on the first floor with my 28-year-old daughter," she said.
The ground floor of the building has a grocery, a men's salon, a typing and photocopying centre, an electronics shop and a cafeteria.
West Indies v India - Third ODI
India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
India won by 93 runs
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The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
School uniforms report
The five pillars of Islam
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