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Two construction workers were officially confirmed dead
and many others injured Jan. 18 after fire raged through
upper levels of the 35-floor Fortune Tower, which is
nearing completion in one of Dubai’s many new
development areas.
The fire appears to have occurred between the 20th and
25th floors of the $46-million concrete-framed building,
which had been substantially clad, says a spokesman for
locally based developer Fortune Group.
With the extent of injuries and damage still being
assessed at press time, an initial report was to be
released by the end of January. The spokesman says that,
according to Dubai’s chief of police, the cause of the
fire was “human error.” But he adds that Fortune Group
is “waiting for an official statement with exact
details” on the incident from Dubai civil defense
officials.
The
fire began midday—when about 370 workers were in the
building—and was extinguished within 75 minutes. Many
workers were employed by the tower’s Malaysia-based main
contractor, IJM Corp. Berhad. It was scheduled to
complete work in time for the tower to open at year’s
end.
High-rise fires are rare or even unprecedented in Dubai,
according to Anthony Gordon, a project director with the
local office of construction manager Turner
International. “I’m not aware of any others,” he says.
“Everybody is sensitive about safety and fires on their
jobs.”
Fortune Tower, with a revolving roof-top restaurant, is
one of 79 structures planned by developer Dubai Multi
Commodities Centre Authority at the 2.75-km x 5.50-km
Jumeira Towers site.