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            Fire Extinguished at United Arab Emirates Tower Complex

   by Associated Press

   Firefighters extinguished a blaze Tuesday that burned up the side of
   several towers in the United Arab Emirates city of Ajman, the latest in
   a series of skyscraper infernos in the Gulf nation, which is home to
   the world's tallest building.

   Civil defense workers sprayed water to cool down any remaining embers
   at the Ajman One development. The city is home to many commuters who
   work in the Gulf commercial hub of Dubai, further to the south.

   The complex, developed for an estimated $720 million by Aqaar, includes
   12 residential towers. Two sustained severe damage to their exteriors,
   while others appeared to have light damage.

   The cause for the blaze, which began Monday night, wasn't immediately
   clear. Civil defense officials declined to comment, while telephone
   numbers for Aqaar rang unanswered Tuesday.

   The state-run WAM news agency said Ajman's ruler, Sheikh Humaid bin
   Rashid Al Nuaimi, visited the complex Tuesday and praised firefighters'
   efforts. He also ordered authorities to accommodate those affected
   until they find housing.

   The fire started around 9 p.m. Monday at Tower No. 8 in the complex,
   then spread to neighboring Tower No. 6 when winds carried burning
   debris toward it, resident Syad Faisal Shah said.

   "No one knew that this was a real fire. No one understood,'' said Shah,
   a Pakistani expatriate. "When we got downstairs ... we saw that the
   building was on fire from every angle.''

   Mina Fayez, another resident, was stunned.

   "You are losing your things in front of your eyes,'' Fayez, an
   Egyptian, said. "There is no feeling. I am just shocked.''

   The Ajman blaze comes less than three months after a massive fire raced
   up the exterior of the 63-story The Address Downtown Dubai, one of
   Dubai's most prominent hotels. It is situated next to Dubai's biggest
   mall and the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper.

   Similar fires have struck other high-rises built since the turn of this
   century in Dubai and Sharjah, which sits between Dubai and Ajman.

   Building and safety experts have attributed the spate of fires to a
   material commonly used to cover the buildings known as aluminum
   composite panel cladding. Some panels used in buildings in the Emirates
   contain a flammable core that can burn rapidly one ignited, allowing
   fires to spread quickly on buildings covered top to bottom with the
   panels without sufficient fire breaks along the way.

   It was not immediately clear if the towers in Ajman had that type of
   cladding, but the fire appeared to burn in a similar fashion to the
   other blazes.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/fire-extinguished-at-uae-tower-complex/3259434.html