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| Fire engulfs Dubai hotel ahead of new year celebrations | Fire engulfs Dubai hotel ahead of new year celebrations |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A huge fire has engulfed a high-rise hotel in central Dubai ahead of a New Year's Eve firework display. | A huge fire has engulfed a high-rise hotel in central Dubai ahead of a New Year's Eve firework display. |
| Burning debris could be seen falling from the 300m-tall (1,000ft) building as firefighters tackled the blaze. | Burning debris could be seen falling from the 300m-tall (1,000ft) building as firefighters tackled the blaze. |
| The display at the world's tallest skyscraper, the nearby Burj Khalifa, started as planned as midnight arrived in the Gulf state. | |
| Officials say the fire is now under control and 16 people suffered mostly minor injures. The cause is not known. | |
| Up to two million people had been expected in central Dubai for the festivities. Crowds were asked to leave the area around The Address Downtown hotel, which has been evacuated. | |
| Flames appeared to rapidly engulf much of the building, a five-star hotel and apartment complex with more than 60 storeys, within 10 minutes. | |
| The Dubai government tweeted that 14 people had suffered minor injuries, one moderate injuries and one heart attack case due to "overcrowding and smoke at the fire site". | |
| The fire had started on the 20th floor, officials said. | |
| The BBC World Service Middle East editor, Sebastian Usher, says the display is a huge prestige event for Dubai, and authorities want the images that people look back on next year to be of the fireworks - and not of the blaze. | |
| A tourist, Michelle Duque told the BBC: "All of a sudden we saw this huge black plume of black smoke coming between the Khalifa Tower and the hotel. | A tourist, Michelle Duque told the BBC: "All of a sudden we saw this huge black plume of black smoke coming between the Khalifa Tower and the hotel. |
| "The flames burst out really big and before we knew it the whole of the Address Hotel was covered in orange flames." | "The flames burst out really big and before we knew it the whole of the Address Hotel was covered in orange flames." |
| Another tourist told the BBC that she saw lot of debris coming down from the building. | Another tourist told the BBC that she saw lot of debris coming down from the building. |
| "The problem is millions of people inside the Burj Khalifa cannot move anywhere because we [are] kind of waiting for the fireworks display." | "The problem is millions of people inside the Burj Khalifa cannot move anywhere because we [are] kind of waiting for the fireworks display." |
| Are you in Dubai? Are you affected? If you have any information to share with the BBC, you can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | Are you in Dubai? Are you affected? If you have any information to share with the BBC, you can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. |
| Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: |
| Or use the form below | Or use the form below |