Five people died and 44 were injured after a fire erupted at a high-rise residential building in Al Nahda on Thursday night, police said on Friday.

The deaths were believed to have been caused by suffocation. Out of those injured, 17 are currently in hospital while 27 were discharged soon after receiving treatment, the Sharjah Police added.

The fire was put out in record time as emergency response teams rushed to the site immediately after receiving a report of the incident at 10.50pm, said Maj-Gen Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of the Sharjah Police.

Residents were quickly evacuated from the premises and moved to temporary accommodation. With the help of Emirates Red Crescent, the police were able to house 156 people — including 18 children aged one to 10 years — at a hotel in the emirate, Maj-Gen Al Shamsi added. Necessary health check-ups were conducted and all essentials were provided to the building's tenants.

Cause of the fire

Initial investigations show that some embers got in contact with waste stuck in a hallway, causing the flames to rapidly rise up the 39-storey tower with 750 apartments, police said.

Thick black smoke quickly engulfed a number of flats in the building, they added.

The police call on everyone, from property owners to tenants, to take all precautionary measures to prevent such incidents.

Maj-Gen Al Shamsi and the Sharjah Police expressed their deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the fire.