Fire rip through 87-storey Torch Tower

A fire broke out just after 1 a.m. at the 87-storey Torch Tower, morer than 1 100 foot tall ( 335 meters), the World’s tallest residential skyscraper located in an upscale waterfront district in Dubai’s Marina, heavily populated by expatriates from around the world.

Firefighters successfully put out a blaze that erupted the high-rise, forcing residents to evacuate in the middle of the night and sending chunks of debris below.

The tower with 676 apartments – 38 of which were burnt and destroyed by fire, according to the office Dubai media office. Sixty-four floors of the façade of the building were also burnt. The same building had a fire just two-and-a- half years ago in February, 2015.

Simon Bach, who lives in another high-rise across the street said “ It seemed really out of control as people were streaming out of the car parks of the building.”

In recent years several skyscrapers have caught fire including a 63-storey luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year’s Eve in 2016.