Fire breaks out in Sharjah

GulfNews

• Fire has caused traffic chaos on one of the UAE’s busiest roads

Sharjah, 11 May 2010: A fire has broken out in Sharjah’s National Paints roundabout area.

Emergency services are at the spot and the roundabout has been closed.

The fire started in a factory in the industrial area and civil defence teams are trying to prevent it from reaching the National Paints Factory.

Sharjah Civil Defence said there are no casualties.

The fire has caused traffic chaos on one of the UAE’s busiest roads.

Emirates Road is still closed in Sharjah on the Dubai bound carriageway and all traffic is being diverted to the Sharjah – Al Dhaid Road.

Albert Dias, who works for UAE travel portal musafir.com, said he heard a “loud bang” before the fire started. Moments later, a worker rushed into his office and told the staff  to evacuate.

Mr Dias tweeted about the fire (@albertdias) posting pictures and describing the scene on the roads surrounding National Paints as “chaos”.

When he ran out of his office, he saw that his car which was parked adjacent to the building was engulfed in flames.

"I decided against trying to take it out for fear of my own safety, because you could literally feel the searing heat from about 200m away, and it only got worse as the sound of container after container exploding sounded through the air. Moments later the entire area where the fire trucks were stationed on the street behind the factory where my car was parked appeared to be covered in smoke and flames. By that time the police feared the worst and began cordoning off the area, asking people to leave", he said. 

“I’ll be picking it up with a spoon tomorrow”, he said about his car.

Mr Dias was also an eyewitness to the plane crash in Sharjah last year, as his company’s other office is in the Sharjah Airport Freezone.