Fire rages at downtown Dubai’s highrise Address hotel
(CNN) – A massive fire broke out Thursday night at the high-end Address hotel in downtown Dubai as New Year’s revelers waited for a planned fireworks celebration in the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city.
Video showed orange tentacles of flames engulfing a large section of the high-rise hotel. Witnesses told CNN they heard explosions.
Early reports from Dubai authorities said the fire started on the 20th floor of the 63-floor hotel. Jaqueline Hurtado, a CNN en Español correspondent, said she was at a restaurant in the area when she heard an explosion, “like a loud pop,” and thought the fireworks display may have started early.
She and others noticed flames at the hotel, and were soon evacuated from the area.
“That fire was big. The fire was just going so fast,” she said. “It just started burning real quick.”
