Sixteen dead, 9 injured in Dubai residential building fire – local media

DUBAI (Reuters) – Sixteen people were killed and nine were injured in a Dubai residential building fire on Saturday, local newspapers said on Sunday citing the Dubai Civil Defence.

The fire engulfed the five-storey building in the Al-Ras neighborhood, one of the oldest parts of Dubai and home to many migrant workers and traders, on Saturday afternoon, according to Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National. Local media said the fire had been put out.

“Preliminary investigations showed that lack of compliance with building security and safety requirements caused the fire” the National said citing a civil defence statement.

(Reporting by Hatem Maher in Cairo and Nadine Awadalla in Dubai; Writing by Omar Abdelrazek; Editing by Hugh Lawson)