Fatal fire at Sharjah warehouse

A worker died after a huge fire gutted a warehouse in Industrial Area 6 of Sharjah yesterday.

The man, along with five others, was believed to have been sleeping in the warehouse when the fire broke out about 5.30am. The survivors fled before the fire intensified, however the dead worker is believed to have been trapped and died of suffocation.

“We are still trying to find out if it is true that the man was sleeping inside the warehouse since the company has staff accommodation quarters nearby,” Captain Mansour Al Suwaidi, director of Fire Stations at Sharjah Civil Defence, told 7DAYS.

No injuries were reported as the workers living in the adjacent staff quarters and occupants of other nearby buildings were evacuated shortly after the fire broke out and the area was immediately cordoned off.

Shafiq Kalam, a Bangladeshi worker, said he heard a loud explosion at about 5.20am and saw thick smoke coming from the warehouse’s roof.

“The fire spread rapidly and then I saw fellow workers running from the warehouse saying that one person was trapped inside. However, by the time firefighters arrived, he was dead, probably due to suffocation,” he said.

It took about eight hours to bring the blaze under control. The warehouse stores freezers, compressors and water coolers.

One firefighter told 7DAYS that, from the smell of the smoke, he suspected oil lubricants were being stored in the warehouse, which may have caused the rapid spread of the blaze.

Sharjah Police is investigating the cause of the fire.

abdu.baasit@7days.ae