Fire at The Address hotel, Downtown Dubai (KT video by Rahul Gajjar) pic.twitter.com/eARxjIn3AE
— Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) December 31, 2015
A massive fire broke out at a luxury hotel and residence in downtown Dubai as New Year’s Eve revelers watched a fireworks display several blocks away.
14 people were treated for minor injuries. The entire building was evacuated quickly. The source of the Dubai hotel fire is unknown.
“They got us out calmly… quickly. We were impressed with how easy we got out of there,” Dubai resident Maha Abouelnebin told CNN.
The fire broke out on the 20th floor of the 63-story Address Hotel at 9:30 p.m. Thursday (Dubai time).
As firefighters battled the blaze, revelers cheered the fireworks display at midnight at the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
The Burj Khalifa was outfitted with 400,000 LED lights for its annual fireworks display.
One tourist couldn’t decide whether to watch the Dubai hotel fire or the fireworks display.
“I was torn; do I watch the fireworks, or do I continue to watch the fire?” said Bruce Szczepanski, who watched the scene unfold from his balcony at a nearby hotel.
The Address Hotel blaze is the 2nd skyscraper fire in Dubai this year. A skyscraper called the Torch went up in flames in February. There were no casualties.
Happy New Year everyone! Be safe and drink responsibly.