Sixteen people were killed after a fire swept through an apartment building in Dubai on Saturday.
The fire broke out at around 12.41pm local time in an apartment shared by multiple individuals in the Al Murar area of Dubai’s historic Deira neighbourhood.
Flat sharing is a common practice among labourers trying to save money but the tight quarters, often subdivided by makeshift barriers of plywood, drywall or shower curtains, can become a major fire hazard.
A statement from Dubai Civil Defense said the fire started on the fourth floor.
“Preliminary investigations showed that lack of compliance with building security and safety requirements caused the fire,” the statement said.
“Relevant authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation to provide a detailed report on the causes of the fire.”
On Sunday, char marks could be seen on the five-story apartment building, which police had cordoned off.
A man who was working nearby when the fire broke out said there had been an explosion followed by a plume of thick black smoke. He said neighbours believed people were asleep inside at the time.
It is common for people to sleep during the day during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Dubai has faced a spate of high-rise fires fuelled by flammable siding material in recent years.
Illegal apartment partitioning has been a problem in Dubai for decades, worsened by real estate booms and economic growth.
Authorities have launched crackdowns in the past, but landlords persist in offering partitioned apartments as workers from Africa and Asia who try to save every penny to send back home.
