Smoke Still Rising From Dubai High-Rise Amid Fire Investigation

Plumes of smoke rose from a 63-storey skyscraper in Dubai one day after it was engulfed by a massive fire as people gathered to watch a spectacular fireworks display to mark the start of the New Year.

The Address would have a prime spot for viewing the midnight fireworks display, centered at the nearby Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

Four teams of firefighters battled the blaze for hours, officials said. The area is one of the sites for the annual New Year's eve fireworks display, which is one of the largest in the world. She thought the fireworks display may have started early.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire started on Thursday night on the lower floor of the Address Downtown hotel from the outside and spread to the upper storeys, the Gulf News reported.

"My father went out onto the balcony and came back and screamed "the hotel is on fire".

A newspaper photographer who was on a 48th floor to take pictures of the fireworks when the fire erupted told AFP he had spent a harrowing 30 minutes standing on a ledge outside the building, only metres from the raging blaze.

Almost an hour after the fire began at 9.30pm local time, some onlookers began to leave while others stood, pressed against crowd barricades, watching the blaze.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the conflagration, which was close to the famed Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper at 905 yards.

A fire burns on the Address Downtown skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday.

Police said the blaze started on the 20th floor of the building, which is also residential and where rentals of one bedroom can run to $70,000 per year.

The Address hotel is the sixth-tallest building in the city, with 63 floors at 991 feet tall.

The New Year's Eve celebrations would go ahead as planned, they said.

Just a few blocks away, the scene was dramatically different.

Witnesses described seeing flaming debris wafting down from The Address as occupants left, some running.

Her family had booked a table at a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the hotel. All residents of the hotel were evacuated.

The Dubai government said evacuated guests were being offered alternative accommodation and provided a telephone number to call for assistance.

Holding on for dear life outside the building, he began calling and texting his colleagues asking them to get in touch with the civil defence for help.

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