Flames engulf 86-storey residential skyscraper in Dubai

Dubai, August 4 : A fire broke out after midnight in one of the world’s tallest residential towers in Dubai, engulfing part of the skyscraper and sending chunks of debris plummeting below. More than 40 floors of the 86-storey Torch Tower were burning on one side of the building, an Associated Press journalist near the scene of the blaze, said. Building residents could be seen on the street outside crying with several saying the fire broke out just after 1 am on Friday local time. Dubai’s Civil Defence announced at about 3.30 am that firefighters had brought the blaze under control and that no injuries had been reported. “Cooling operations are underway,” Dubai’s official media office said on Twitter. It was the second time in two-and-a-half years that the more than 1,100-foot-tall (335 metres) tower has been ravaged by fire. The tower, located in the popular waterfront Marina district, caught fire in February 2015, but there were no major casualties reported in that blaze. Early on Friday, authorities shared a photo of the charred and blackened tower but it was no longer visibly in flames.