DUBAI, 10 November 2004 — Nearly 300 Indian laborers lost their passports, cash and belongings, including gifts for families back home, in a fire that engulfed their housing compound in the second such incident in 13 months at the same spot.
The fire broke out shortly before noon on Monday at the camp housing workers of the Obeidullah construction company in Jebel Ali. The blaze, the cause of which was not immediately known, took three hours to be brought under control.
Some 3,000 construction workers live in mostly wooden shanties in the compound. There were no casualties since all workers were at work at the time of the blaze at the camp, which is near the luxury Gardens Residence complex.
Workers said about 300 of them were scheduled to go on annual leave beginning with the Eid holidays, and had taken their passports and salaries from the management of the company and had kept them in their rooms. They had also purchased gifts for their families. The blaze left nothing behind.
They heard about the fire while at work and rushed back to the camp, but only a few could retrieve anything from their rooms. It was too dangerous to approach the rooms since gas cylinders kept exploding as the blaze spread.
Heavy clouds of smoke rose in the air as most of the housing units were made of wood. Dubai police were investigating the cause of the fire yesterday. First reports said the fire followed a loud bang, presumably from a gas cylinder explosion. The explosion itself was believed to have been caused by a small kitchen fire.
It was the third fire in a labor camp in the Jebel Ali Free Zone and the second in the Obeidullah compound. Local reports quoted workers as claiming that some 350 people suffered losses as a result of the October 2003 fire which was caused by an electric short circuit. They said most of them were not compensated by the company. The company declined comment on the reports.
Another fire broke out in a nearby camp housing an equal number of workers in July.
Most of those who lost their passports and belongings would not be able to go home as scheduled since the government is on an extended holiday which began with eight days of mourning for the late president, Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan Al Nahyan, and leading into a Nov. 13-17 Eid holiday. The immigration department will reopen only on Nov. 20.
The Indian Consulate said it was ready to issue new passports wherever feasible to those who lost them in the fire, but pointed out that none of the workers would be able to leave the country without immigration clearance on the new passports. This could take several days after the department resumes work.
The fire highlighted the poor conditions of camps housing laborers in other areas of Dubai and the UAE. While the government has laid down a set of strict safety and hygiene conditions, only a handful of companies are said to be following the guidelines.
