DUBAI, 3 April 2008 — One of Dubai’s oldest markets caught fire early yesterday, reducing many shops to ashes but causing no casualties, firefighting officials said.
Initial reports said more than 100 shops, mostly owned by Indian expatriates, were destroyed when the fire erupted in Deira’s Naif Market at around 1.45 a.m. But in a statement late yesterday, the Directorate of Civil Defense said the market was only partially destroyed and as many as 184 shops were salvaged from the blaze.
The Naif Market was one of Dubai’s oldest and most popular shopping destinations — selling Arab and Asian products — before malls with goods from all over the world took over this booming city. The market, which underwent renovation in the 1980s, was previously known as the Box Souq.
The blaze was brought under control in the early hours of yesterday. Unconfirmed reports said the fire might have been caused by an electrical short circuit in an air-conditioning unit next to a transformer. Authorities are still investigating.
The blaze caused panic in the densely populated Deira area as thick smoke billowed and flames spread.
Sulaiman Mohammed, an Indian expatriate, who has lived close to the market for three decades, said Naif Market was frequented by Emiratis and expatriates when Dubai was “a simple place.”
“There were no other places to go shopping,” Mohammed said.
Most of the gutted shops sold clothes, readymade garments, perfumes and toys. The fire is expected to have caused massive losses.
“I have lost everything. Everybody is in trouble,” said Abdul Majeed, an Indian shopkeeper, who has been selling perfume at the market since coming to live in Dubai’s densely populated district of Deira 35 years ago.
Thanks to the oil boom in the region and Dubai’s ambitious ruler Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum, this city has in recent years asserted itself as Middle East’s business hub and the region’s most popular tourist destination.
The city’s biggest shopping complex has an indoor ski slope. An even bigger mall, currently under construction but due to open by the end of the year, will include an aquarium and an ice-skating ring.
This is Dubai’s second fire in a week. Eight people have now been confirmed dead and seven people are still missing when a fireworks warehouse blew up on March 26.
— With input from agencies
