Towering inferno: Britons among hundreds evacuated as fire rips through one of the world's tallest residential buildings in Dubai, Britons have told of their terror as hundreds of residents were evacuated from one of the world's tallest residential buildings after it was engulfed in flames in the early hours of this morning in Dubai.
Pictures and video footage showed a large blaze ripping through multiple floors of the Marina Torch tower, a new tower in the expat-heavy Marina district of the city.
More than a dozen fire trucks were able to extinguish the flames several hours after the fire alarm went off around 2am local time.
One eyewitness said flames shot out from two sides of the building as glass and metal rained down from near the summit of the 86-storey skyscraper, which stands more 330 metres tall (1,105 ft).
One British woman, who was asleep in the building when the fire broke out, told MailOnline: 'We just thought it was a false alarm at first, so left it for a couple of minutes as it went off at 2am, then when it didn't stop we realised we needed to go down.
'The lifts weren't working so we had to walk down 72 flights of stairs with everyone, that took about 10 minutes as there were people carrying their children and babies and people who just weren't fit enough to get down the stairs.
'We got to the lobby and there were the firefighters but we couldn't exit at first because there were bits of the outside building falling to the floor at the door which were still on fire.
'Then they ran us out in little groups to across the street. And when we got outside we noticed that one of the corners was on fire and was spreading up the building. We were just trying to run as quick as we could.'
British ex-pat Sharjeel Khawaja from London, who lives on the 26th floor, told 7 Days In Dubai that ignored the fire alarm because he thought it was coming from the construction site nearby.
He said: 'I woke up around 6am to find missed calls from my family and a mate that lives in the same building.
'I went out into the corridor and the sprinklers were on and there was water everywhere.
'When I got outside [on the street] everyone was gathered around watching what was happening. I must have been one of the last out of the building.'
The director of Dubai Civil Defence, said: 'The incident proved Dubai Civil Defence's ability to control the fire and stop it from spreading to the tower's other wings and to nearby buildings by following strict protocols to break in quickly and reach the source of the fire on the 51st floor.'
Major General Rashid Al Matroushi said around 100 officers from nine civil defence stations took part in putting out the blaze.
Two residents of the Torch, who were evacuated from the building, were told the fire started on the 52nd floor. They said the flaming material fell and set lower parts of the building ablaze.
Steve Short, 53, of Liverpool, praised the work of firefighters who arrived quickly. He said fire alarms alerted residents to the blaze and building management sent workers knocking on doors to ensure residents got out.
Residents of at least one neighboring tower were told to evacuate as a precaution because of strong winds, but they were later allowed back inside.
As daylight broke, residents waiting to check the extent of the damage at their homes could see the external cladding on the corners of the building was charred black and mangled for dozens of floors.
Clean-up crews dressed in orange uniforms swept up pieces of shattered glass and other debris covering the street outside the building.
Another resident of The Torch said residents were nervous coming out but fire crews were able to bring the situation under control.
33-year-old RJ Morlock said: 'I was really surprised they got it under control pretty quickly,' he said. 'It looked like it was going to go up.'
The blaze spread through at least 15 floors as high winds whipped through the area, on the northeastern end of the densely populated Marina district.
Police blocked off areas around the skyscraper, which still had power during the fire and lights were on in many of the apartments inside.
Debris from the fire cluttered nearby streets after the blaze was extinguished. Police on the scene had no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
Pictures and video footage showed a large blaze ripping through multiple floors of the Marina Torch tower, a new tower in the expat-heavy Marina district of the city.
More than a dozen fire trucks were able to extinguish the flames several hours after the fire alarm went off around 2am local time.
One eyewitness said flames shot out from two sides of the building as glass and metal rained down from near the summit of the 86-storey skyscraper, which stands more 330 metres tall (1,105 ft).
One British woman, who was asleep in the building when the fire broke out, told MailOnline: 'We just thought it was a false alarm at first, so left it for a couple of minutes as it went off at 2am, then when it didn't stop we realised we needed to go down.
'The lifts weren't working so we had to walk down 72 flights of stairs with everyone, that took about 10 minutes as there were people carrying their children and babies and people who just weren't fit enough to get down the stairs.
'We got to the lobby and there were the firefighters but we couldn't exit at first because there were bits of the outside building falling to the floor at the door which were still on fire.
'Then they ran us out in little groups to across the street. And when we got outside we noticed that one of the corners was on fire and was spreading up the building. We were just trying to run as quick as we could.'
British ex-pat Sharjeel Khawaja from London, who lives on the 26th floor, told 7 Days In Dubai that ignored the fire alarm because he thought it was coming from the construction site nearby.
He said: 'I woke up around 6am to find missed calls from my family and a mate that lives in the same building.
'I went out into the corridor and the sprinklers were on and there was water everywhere.
'When I got outside [on the street] everyone was gathered around watching what was happening. I must have been one of the last out of the building.'
The director of Dubai Civil Defence, said: 'The incident proved Dubai Civil Defence's ability to control the fire and stop it from spreading to the tower's other wings and to nearby buildings by following strict protocols to break in quickly and reach the source of the fire on the 51st floor.'
Major General Rashid Al Matroushi said around 100 officers from nine civil defence stations took part in putting out the blaze.
Two residents of the Torch, who were evacuated from the building, were told the fire started on the 52nd floor. They said the flaming material fell and set lower parts of the building ablaze.
Steve Short, 53, of Liverpool, praised the work of firefighters who arrived quickly. He said fire alarms alerted residents to the blaze and building management sent workers knocking on doors to ensure residents got out.
Residents of at least one neighboring tower were told to evacuate as a precaution because of strong winds, but they were later allowed back inside.
As daylight broke, residents waiting to check the extent of the damage at their homes could see the external cladding on the corners of the building was charred black and mangled for dozens of floors.
Clean-up crews dressed in orange uniforms swept up pieces of shattered glass and other debris covering the street outside the building.
Another resident of The Torch said residents were nervous coming out but fire crews were able to bring the situation under control.
33-year-old RJ Morlock said: 'I was really surprised they got it under control pretty quickly,' he said. 'It looked like it was going to go up.'
The blaze spread through at least 15 floors as high winds whipped through the area, on the northeastern end of the densely populated Marina district.
Police blocked off areas around the skyscraper, which still had power during the fire and lights were on in many of the apartments inside.
Debris from the fire cluttered nearby streets after the blaze was extinguished. Police on the scene had no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
