Husband who lost wife and child in Al Ain house fire and other witnesses dispute the Civil Defence account of events.
Husband who lost wife and child in Al Ain house fire and other witnesses dispute the Civil Defence account of events.

Husband disputes account of blaze rescues



AL AIN // Al Ain Civil Defence yesterday praised the quick and effective response of firemen in its first official account of last month's blaze that killed a mother and her five-year-old son.

Video: Fatal fire kills mother and son in Al Ain

Last Updated: June 13, 2011 UAE

Husam Mohammed, a Jordanian neighbour of the Shaheen family, witnessed Saturday's tragic house fire in which a young Mother and her son were killed.

In the statement, Civil Defence said emergency workers arrived at the fire within five minutes of receiving the 999 call, and had the fire extinguished 15 minutes later.

During the blaze in the city's Al Jimi district, one of the home's occupants, Ahmed Shaheen, 30, from Jordan, drove his 4x4 Mitsubishi Pajero through the wall of the room in which 16 people were trapped. Fourteen people were rescued through the hole.

But his 28-year-old wife, Tahrir, and five-year-old son, Khalilallah, died in the fire. Mrs Shaheen had run back inside the burning building in a bid to rescue her children, he and other witnesses have said.

Reading the Civil Defence statement, Mr Shaheen said: "There are quite a few inaccuracies in this statement, but I will not discuss them in such a public forum as the media. I will visit the Minister of the Interior's office and share my side of the facts.

"I want to thank all those who came to the aid of my family that night, including members of the Al Ain Traffic Police and CID and the special forces officers, who all arrived on the scene within moments and saw what actually happened."

The Civil Defence statement said that after Mr Shaheen crashed his 4x4 through the wall, their personnel entered the burning building, rescued the 14 women trapped inside and pulled out the two who had died.

Mr Shaheen and other witnesses had said he and two neighbours entered the house through the hole and pulled the women to safety.

The Shaheen family also said rescuers arrived at the scene 15 minutes after they were called, that when they arrived they refused to enter the premises to rescue the trapped women, and that not enough ambulances were sent, forcing the family to rush four adults and a nine-month-old to the hospital in a private car.

"The rescue technicians didn't want to enter the house until firefighters arrived," he said. "We told them that there were women trapped at the back of the house in a room with no windows. They said to wait for the fire department and handed me a fire extinguisher. I knew that if something wasn't done immediately everyone inside would die."

The Civil Defence statement said the fire was caused by faulty wiring in the home. It added the home had been illegally partitioned and attachments made of easily flammable materials that included wood and asbestos. "Civil Defence rescued 16 inhabitants in the house, two of which were dead," the starement read." They were all taken to the hospital [by rescue workers], except for one, who was taken to the hospital by a member of the public.

"The cause of the fire was dangerous electrical wiring that was placed randomly in the house. Civil Defence secured the site so no one would approach, but meanwhile, one of the house's inhabitants broke down a wall from the west side of the house alone because he had knowledge of people trapped in a wooden room that was unknown to the Civil Defence.

"They were all unconscious from smoke inhalation, so a hole was made in the roof to allow air to come in."

Mr Shaheen categorically denied that they had altered the house. They said they had rented it exactly as it was when day the blaze erupted. Mr Shaheen added he had no idea that the wiring was faulty.

If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).

The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8

Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm

Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Price: from Dh850,000

On sale: now

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Kandahar%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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Scoreline

Ireland 16 (Tries: Stockdale Cons: Sexton Pens: Sexton 3)

New Zealand 9 (Pens: Barrett 2 Drop Goal: Barrett)

The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

  • be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
  • not be younger than 25 years old
  • not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
  • be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
  • undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Glossary of a stock market revolution

Reddit

A discussion website

Redditor

The users of Reddit

Robinhood

A smartphone app for buying and selling shares

Short seller

Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future

Short squeeze

Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting 

Naked short

An illegal practice  

UAE players with central contracts

Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Adnan Mufti, Mohammed Usman, Ghulam Shabbir, Ahmed Raza, Qadeer Ahmed, Amir Hayat, Mohammed Naveed and Imran Haider.

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Company%C2%A0profile
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LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Stoke City v Tottenham

Brentford v Newcastle United

Arsenal v Manchester City

Everton v Manchester United

All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.

RESULTS

Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)

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The%20specs
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NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

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