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Blaze engulfs Dubai tower near fireworks display

The Address Downtown is on fire, with the flames reaching from the ground floor up another 20 storeys.

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There was doubt as to whether the fireworks display planned for the nearby Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, would go off at midnight but they did to the delight of the thousands present.


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In the wake of the New Year’s Eve celebrations, the Address Downtown Hotel in Dubai caught fire on Thursday as the fireworks in the emirates were lit to celebrate the new year.


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The fire broke out as governments around the world were on high alert for possible terrorist attacks tied to New Year’s Eve celebrations, but there was no immediate indication that terrorism was to blame for the blaze. But challenges remain as Dubai has faced a series of recent tower fires.

Firefighters are still working to douse the embers from a fire that engulfed a 63-story luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year’s Eve.

She said that staff were very efficient is moving people out of the hotel.

“Internal fire extinguishers are preventing spread of fire inside the hotel”, it said.Dubai Media Office confirmed that as of 11.00p, 90% of the blaze was contained.

Dubai is heavily reliant on tourism and officials were keen to downplay the blaze and draw attention to the fireworks display, which had been expected to draw a crowd of around one million. She expressed relief that her family had made it out of the building safely.

UPDATE: Fireworks at the Burj Khalifa tower went off at midnight as scheduled.

The tower, which houses 200 hotel rooms and 600 residential units, was immediately evacuated, as was the adjoining Dubai Waterfront.

An Al Arabiya reporter, who was standing around 500 meters from the scene, said the fire was spreading, and that a burst of flame and smoke could at one point be seen about 9 floors up the tower.

The Civil Defense said “cooling procedures” were still underway Friday, and that the investigation was underway into the cause.

Photo taken by a mobile device shows Address Downtown Dubai hotel on fire in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on December 31, 2015. No cause of fire has been reported.

The government tweeted that the hotel fire erupted on the 20th floor and affected only the outer facade of the building.

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Every year, Dubai stages one of the world’s most spectacular fireworks displays from the 160-storey Burj, which opened in 2010 and stands nearly 830 metres (2,722 feet) tall.

Luxury high-rise hotel bursts into flames near New Year's Eve fireworks display