Sharjah Police General Command revealed that the reason for the fire of the Apco Tower in Al Nahda in Sharjah, last week, after a glowing cigarette or anthrax fell from the upper floors to the outer corridors of the residential tower, which led to the ignition of the external facade of the tower according to preliminary investigations and previews.
And it showed that investigations are still ongoing to confirm the cause of the fire, pointing out that the old cladding of the building from the article "Cladding" led to a speed of ignition of the front facade of the tower, indicating that damaged vehicles inside the parking lots of the tower, and others that were standing outside the tower, numbered 33 cars.
She pointed out that the tower consists of 333 apartments, 100 apartments were inspected, 26 apartments were damaged due to the fire, 24 apartments were exposed to water and smoke coming into the fire, and 40 apartments were broken to ensure their safety and the spread of the fire inside them, stressing that there are 233 apartments that have not been opened yet and are still Closed.
The Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police Major General Saif Al-Zari Al-Shamsi stressed, during a remote press conference, that the security teams, firefighters and all the supporting units worked during the fire on several axes, the most important of which is to ensure the safety of the population and evacuate the building from the residents, and then secure all the necessary supplies for them, and to ensure that they have Health and safety.
He indicated that the security teams from the criminal laboratory immediately began searching for the causes of the fire, and investigations are still ongoing to find out the true causes behind the outbreak of the fire, pointing out that 90% of the samples that were taken showed that the cause of the fire is a glowing anthrax or after a burning cigarette was thrown From one of the upper floors to the outer corridor of the tower, where the fire started on the first residential floor of the tower, and extended to the upper floors due to the old cladding of the tower (Cladding) that was prohibited to use in 2016, pointing out that the short circuit was excluded from being among the causes of the fire because the fire started From outside.
Al Shamsi indicated that the residents will not be able to return to housing before the end of maintenance, and returning to their apartments at the present time is difficult because of the damages that may take a long time to repair, due to the great damage caused by the fire to the corridors of the external building and its covering, pointing out that adequate housing will be provided commensurate With the needs of each family for all affected by the fire.
And that currently there are 250 hotel rooms distributed in three hotels in the emirate that have been allocated to those affected by the fire to house them, pointing out that all their basic and necessary needs will be provided and they will be accompanied to their apartments if they need to take the necessary things.
He stated that the National Ambulance and the medical and security teams dealt with a number of the injured people, who numbered 12 due to the fire, and all their injuries were minor, and they were treated at the site of the accident, and some of them were taken to the hospital to make sure of his safety, all of them were in good health and were discharged from the hospital on the same day.
For his part, the Executive Director of the Sharjah Charity Association, Abdullah Sultan bin Khadem, confirmed that the association has finished housing all families affected by the fire of the “Apco Tower” in Al Nahda, with the provision of medical care and food aid. The association’s teams have been able to provide housing for 650 beneficiaries through coordination With hotels in the emirate of Sharjah, as well as in cooperation with the Emirates European Hospital providing health care services for families, their families and their children, while food parcels were provided that provide the basic needs of families until the repair and maintenance of their residence in the burning tower.
Humanitarian attitudes
Colonel Sami Al-Naqbi, Director of Sharjah Civil Defense, stated that there are humanitarian situations for the residents that took place during the handling of the fire, and the owners were honored, as one of the residents was able to save another 12-year-old girl during their descent from the upper floors, after hearing her crying, begging and screaming Issued by one of the apartments, which led them to break the door and save her life before she suffocated from smoke from fire or the arrival of the fire to her apartment, in addition to saving all the pets inside the apartments after the owners of the police and civil defense.
88 personnel and 22 firefighting vehicles dealt with the fire
Colonel Sami Al-Naqbi, Director of Sharjah Civil Defense confirmed that the firefighting teams were at the site of the fire six minutes after receiving the notification, and 88 individuals and 22 vehicles from six centers in the emirate participated in the firefighting, in addition to the security teams from the police, the national ambulance and the specialized medical teams.
He pointed out that the height of the floors was a great challenge because there are no mechanisms that can reach the height of more than 50 floors, pointing out that the first half hour was allocated to evacuating the population, because the fire was initially externally and the mechanisms and teams deal with it at the time of the evacuation itself, pointing to The competence and professionalism of the civil defense teams have enabled it to control the fire without causing serious injuries or deaths.