Dubai giant skyscraper engulfed in flames hours before entrance of 2016

Independent

One of the tallest skyscrapers in the world turned into an inferno after fire ripped through the 302m  (990ft) Address building in Dubai in seconds, sending tourists who had gathered for the city’s famed New Year celebrations fleeing in panic.

But astonishingly it appeared that no one had been killed in the blaze at the tower, which contains the Address Downtown Dubai, a hotel popular with British tourists, and hundreds of luxury apartments. There were unconfirmed reports that up to 60 people had been injured.

The fire began as an estimated million people prepared to ring in the New Year and, even as the tower continued to burn, the famed fireworks display went ahead as planned at midnight.

Local media say the hotel and the nearby Dubai Mall have been evacuated.

There have been at least 14 injuries, the government’s media office reports.