Dubai Torch Tower hit by fire again

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Flames shoot up the sides of the Torch tower residential building in the Marina district, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the early hours of August 4, 2017. (Mitch Williams/Social Media Website/via Reuters)
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People on a street view a fire at the 1,105 foot tall Torch tower skyscraper in the early hours of August 4, 2017 in Dubai. (AFP / KARIM SAHIB)
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This combination image from photos shared on social media shows the Dubai Torch Tower in flames and firefighters on the ground responding.
Updated 04 August 2017
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Dubai Torch Tower hit by fire again

JEDDAH: More than two years after it was hit by fire, the Dubai Torch Tower in Dubai was in flames again late Thursday, forcing occupants to evacuate.
Photos and videos shared on social media showed the 79-story residential skyscraper burning and firefighters struggling to douse the flames.
Located at the Dubai Marina, the tower was damaged by fire on February 21, 2015, causing substantial damage.
The fire comes despite tougher new rules undertaken by the modern emirate early this year following a spate of fires hitting its skyscrapers.
Probers have noted that most of the big fires that have hit Dubai high-rises in recent years have spread rapidly, mostly due to flammable material used in cladding, a covering or coating used on the side of the buildings.
Under Dubai’s new fire and safety code, builders are required “to ensure that the flammability of the cladding is as close to zero as possible.”
Builders are required to regularly carry out maintenance on the cladding panels and replace them after a certain date.
One of Dubai’s major blazes occurred on New Year’s Eve 2015 when fire struck the luxury Address Downtown Hotel, injuring 16 people just a few hours before a  fireworks display nearby.
The blaze was broadcast live worldwide, but authorities went ahead with the festivities just the same, with residents and tourists gathered nearby to watch a dazzling fireworks display even as smoke billowed out of the tower.

 


Lebanon says two dead in Israeli strikes

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Lebanon says two dead in Israeli strikes

  • Lebanon’s health ministry: An ‘Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle on the Jadra-Siblin road in the Shouf district killed one person and wounded five others’
  • one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Odaisseh near the border with Israel
BEIRUT: Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Tuesday killed two people, one of them near Beirut, the Lebanese health ministry reported, with Israel saying it had targeted Hezbollah operatives.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five southern areas it deems strategic.
Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike on a vehicle on the Jadra-Siblin road in the Shouf district killed one person and wounded five others.”
The area is around 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital.
An AFP photographer saw a damaged goods truck with emergency workers and army personnel deployed at the scene.
Earlier, the ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Odaisseh near the border with Israel.
In separate statements, the Israeli army said it targeted two Hezbollah members, without providing further details.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed three people in separate parts of Lebanon according to the health ministry, with Israel saying it killed Hezbollah members.
Around 340 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement went into force, according to an AFP tally of health ministry reports.
Israel usually says the strikes target Hezbollah members and infrastructure, and aim to stop the group from rearming.
Tuesday’s attacks come as the ceasefire monitoring committee, which includes France and the United States, is set to meet later this week.
According to the ceasefire, Hezbollah was required to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border with Israel, and have its military infrastructure in the vacated area dismantled.
Under a government-approved plan, Lebanon’s army is to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani by the end of the year, before tackling the rest of the country.