Firefighters managed to subdue the blaze, but part of the Address Downtown Hotel is still smouldering.
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The CTA will also extend hours and increase the frequency of service for several bus and rail routes, the statement said. Friday, anyone who needs a ride home should call Via Limo at (708) 349-7700 and mention the Safe Ride Home program.
Instead of fire at the Address Downtown hotel, the plan of fireworks at Bhurj Khalifa was unaffected and the administration as millions of dollars were spent on it.
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On its website, the hotel says that its “spacious and bright rooms offer a dynamic sense of style and a striking design that appeals to all tastes across the global travel market”.
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“People on the street were surprised to hear that they would still go on with the fireworks display considering how close it is to the building that was burning”, Klemack said.
The fire, which started around 10.30pm (UAE time), was contained in time for the New Year celebrations to begin in the tourism hub of the country.
Despite the billowing clouds of thick, dark smoke the fire sent into the sky over the city, officials went forward with the midnight fireworks display from the world’s tallest building.
Zeina Mandour, 35, who was staying with a relative in an apartment on the 39th floor, said in a phone interview that she heard an explosion around 9:50 p.m. When she looked out the window, she saw black smoke and flames.
A large fire has engulfed a skyscraper hotel in Dubai. “I’d say within six or seven minutes, the entire side of the building was just engulfed in flames”, she said.
Dubai authorities said guests evacuated from the hotel would be provided with new accommodations.
As we reported yesterday, Dubai’s fireworks display continued as planned, even as the blaze raged a short distance away.
Organisers said the Burj Khalifa was fitted with 400,000 LED lights and 1.6 tons of fireworks were used in the display. “We were impressed with how easy we got out of there”, she said.
The government tweeted that the hotel fire erupted on the 20th floor and affected only the outer facade of the building.
Authorities said earlier Thursday that they had deployed thousands of security personnel to ensure visitors and residents could enjoy the New Year’s festivities safely.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. “The new system in the hotel prevented the fire from spreading inside the hotel”.
“What was odd is that the fire was disappearing and then reappearing again”, said Mohammed al-Majed, a Saudi tourist who was at the restaurant around a kilometre away.
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Abdulla Hassan, Sultan Ashor, Waleed Issa and Ashraf Khan from the Dubai Fire Station were amongst the first batch of firefighters to arrive on the scene last night. “It spread so quickly when it started”, he said.
