A massive fire broke out at the 63-story Address, a hotel and residential development in the heart of Dubai’s downtown, around which thousands of people have gathered to watch the New Year fireworks Thursday night.
The Address is one of the tallest, flashiest skyscrapers in a city packed with flashy, tall architecture. According to the Associated Press, the fire is tearing through several dozen floors of the Address, not far from the Burj Khalifa Tower.
Officials said authorities are on hand at the site to deal with the emergency and firefighting teams have been dispatched. The planned lights-and-sound event, presenting the futuristic vision of the UAE, took weeks of hectic preparations to create, to welcome a multitude of visitors to Downtown Dubai. In fact, foreign guests had begun to converge on the iconic Burj Khalifa complex to witness one of the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve parties when the fire started.
The Address Downtown Dubai, formerly The Address Downtown Burj Dubai, is a 63-story, 991 ft supertall hotel and residential skyscraper in the Burj Dubai Development Area of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is the 19th tallest building in the city. The tower is another supertall structure in the massive development named Downtown Dubai, which includes the centerpiece supertall building, the Burj Khalifa. The tower was topped out in April 2008, becoming the 6th-tallest building in Dubai and the 36th-tallest in the world.
The 5 star hotel and residential compound used to feature 196 rooms and 626 serviced apartments.