Labour camp fire

A huge fire broke out in a labour camp in the Gasidat area in Ras Al Khaimah and more than 90 blue collar workers evacuated safely and quickly.

The Central Operations Room of the RAK Police was alerted to the blaze, which broke out behind the Traffic Impoundment Net of the RAK police. High flames and heavy smoke could be seen for miles as  firefighters rushed to the site.

“It was not an easy job as the fire broke out in different parts of the labour camp which was, mainly wooden parts, which easily caught fire and spread on a large distance”, a source within the RAK Civil Defence department told the Khaleej Times. What made the situation worse was that a big number of staff workers were staying in a nearby building, he added. “The 100 workers were at risk of injury from the flames and heavy smoke.” 

It took the firefighters more than three hours to evacuate the workers, cordon off the area and prevent it from spreading out to the entire labour camp and nearby camps.

Luckily there were no casualties though special cranes from the department of public works and service to remove the wastes and debris of the fire.

Mohamed Arif, Pakistani, said they were shocked of the massive fire. “We were alerted about the inferno while we were asleep, and luckily we were all evacuated in time.” 

“So far, no one knows the reason behind the inferno, but we have told that the legal bodies med concerned have initiated investigations on the same,” said Mohamed Mustafa, Pakistani.

http://khaleejtimes.com/nation/ras-al-khaimah/100-workers-escape-death-after-massive-fire-in-labour-camp