Staff Reporter :
At least 15 people have reportedly been burnt to death and eight others were injured in a fire at a commercial building in Mussafah area in Abu Dhabi on Friday morning.
The blaze swept through the two-storey building that contained car repair shops and tyre warehouse on the ground floor, while the second floor was used for housing workers.
Around 40 labourers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Syria and Iran lived in the second floor of the building, according to the report of local newspapers.
Bodies of the fire victims kept at the morgue of Sheikh Khalifa Medical College in Abu Dhabi.
Officials at Bangladesh Embassy in Abu Dhabi said it could not be ascertained immediately if there were any Bangladeshis among the deceased as the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
DNA tests will be carried out for recognition of the bodies, they said.
However, they added, at least three Bangladeshis remained missing.
The officials confirmed that at least four Bangladeshis were among the injured.
They also said that the building housed a tyre warehouse from where the fire might have originated.
The fire broke out around 4:00am (local time) and the firefighters have already doused the blaze.
Officials however confirmed at least four Bangladeshis were injured in the fire. Of them, two are still undergoing treatment at a local hospital and two others left the hospital after taking treatment.
Two injured Bangladeshis were identified as Zakir Alam and Md Azam.
Bangladesh embassy officials had visited the scene and hospitals.
The building had a tyre manufacturing shop on the ground floor and workers of different nationalities resided on floors above it.
While talking to The New Nation, the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said that he has learnt that three of the victims are Bangladeshis.
