DUBAI: A fire in a residential building in Dubai killed 16 people, including three Pakistanis, and inju­red nine others in the wealthy Gulf emirate, the government said on Sunday.

The fire broke out at midday Saturday on the fourth floor of the building in the Al-Ras neighbourhood in the old part of the city.

The civil defence force said preliminary investigations showed the fire was caused by a “lack of compliance with building security and safety requirement.

Khaleej Times quoted a social worker as saying that all 16 people who died have been identified, including six Sudanese nationals, three Pakistani citizens, four Indians, one Cameroon national, one Jordanian and one Egyptian expat. “Rela­tives, friends and colleagues of these people came through the night to identify them,” he said. “It is really a heartbreaking process.”

Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, has a population of around 3.3 million, of whom almost 90 per cent are foreigners. The city has experienced spectacular fires in the past, causing extensive dam­age but few casualties.

In 2017, the authorities announced the adoption of stricter building regulations to minimise the risk of fire, attributed mainly to flammable materials used in the exterior cladding of buildings.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2023