1. Home
  2. Dubai: 23 NRIs lose passports in New Year fire; get exit papers

Dubai: 23 NRIs lose passports in New Year fire; get exit papers

January 8, 2016

Dubai, Jan 8: At least 23 Indians affected in the New Year's Eve fire at the Address Downtown Hotel have left the country on emergency exit papers issued by the Indian Consulate in Dubai after they lost their passports in the blaze.

building

The belongings of hundreds of hotel guests and residents (including owners and tenants residing in the hotel apartments) in the 63-storey hotel were affected in the fire. The blaze had raged through 40 floors upwards after starting off in the 20th floor a couple of hours before the stunning New Year fireworks at the Burj Khalifa started.

The hotel authorities had coordinated with various embassies and consulates to assist the guests who lost their passports in the fire to travel back to their destinations. In a statement issued last week, Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, thanked various embassy and consulate officials in the UAE for their support in facilitating the travel and documentation process for the hotel guests.

The Indian Consulate had set up a special helpline to address queries. The website of the mission continued to scroll the helpline number and email address for contact even until Thursday.

When contacted, an official in charge of the team assisting the fire victims told Khaleej Times the mission had assigned a team of officials to assist the fire victims, and helped many hotel guests leave the country by issuing an emergency certificate, also known as out-pass.

"We had visited the site to enquire about the welfare of the Indians affected in the fire ... and we had been in touch with the hotel authorities," the spokesperson said.

The hotel management, he said, informed the mission that at least 72 occupants were Indian nationals. "We assume they are guests who booked the hotel rooms for New Year celebrations and could have one or more family members also with them."

However, not all of them required help with travel documents. "We issued ... the out-passes for those who lost their passports. Only 23 applications came in for these emergency certificates."

He said the applicants had produced soft copies of their damaged or lost passports as proof. "Most of them had come down from India and a handful of them came from elsewhere, probably."

However, he said the mission has not yet received any applications from the Indian residents in the hotel apartments. "So far, we have handled the applications of only those who came on visit visas."

Comments

Milla
 - 
Tuesday, 19 Apr 2016

When I originally commented I clicked the \Notify me when new comments are added\" checkbox and now each time a comment is added
I get several e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Thanks!

Here is my website - digital piano
best: http://nsgtxx.com/comment/html//index.php?page=1&id=38268"

Landon
 - 
Wednesday, 13 Apr 2016

Good day! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you
knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I'm using the same blog platform as yours and I'm having difficulty finding
one? Thanks a lot!

Feel free to surf to my homepage best portable digital
piano weighted keys: http://web.6bei.net/comment/html/index.php?page=1&id=5808

Bettye
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Mar 2016

Hi there! I'm at work browsing your blog from my new apple iphone!

Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Carry on the great work!

Feel free to visit my blog - best digital piano: http://answers.opencv.org/users/39117/sonyan7632/

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 18,2020

Dubai, Apr 18: Saudi Arabia has reported 1,132 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of confirmed COVID-19 patients to 8,274, the Ministry of Health revealed on Saturday.

The ministry has also announced five more deaths from the virus, taking to 92 the Kingdom’s death toll.

Recoveries
As for recoveries, 280 new recoveries were reported, pushing the total number of patients recovered to 1,329.

The ministry revealed that 79 per cent of today’s cases are expatriates and that 65 per cent of the cases were detected through intensified and active COVID-19 screening in densely-populated areas.

A total of 201 patients of Saturday’s cases have contracted the disease due to being in contact with existing cases, the ministry added.

The new infected cases have been placed under complete isolation and they are receiving necessary medical care, an official from the ministry said.

He affirmed that medical teams are intensifying efforts and screening tests in workers' neighbourhoods and accommodations in order to limit the spread of the disease.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 21,2020

May 21: Mosques across the UAE will remain closed during Eid Al Fitr, a top official has said. The Takbeer, which is chanted before the special prayers performed on Eid, will be broadcast from mosques 10 minutes before the prayer time.

During the virtual press briefing held on Wednesday, Dr Farida Al Hosani, official spokesperson of the UAE health sector, reminded citizens and expats about the importance of adhering to the safety measures as laid out by the authorities.

Contact tracing process

"Before we began to use Al Hosn app to trace the contacts of Covid-19 cases, the tracking process used to take more than 48 hours. It also depended on the memory and honesty of people. The app is an AI-enabled methodological way to trace individuals who came in contact with Covid-19 cases so that they are isolated. It has proven to be an efficient way to stop the spread of the coronavirus," Dr Farida said.

Install the app

She called on all the public to install the app on their smart phones. "The success of the tracing system via Al Hosn app relies on its use. We hope 50 to 70 per cent of people in the UAE instal and use the app in an effective way."

No sermon

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Shamsi, Spokesperson for the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, said there will be no sermon for the Eid prayers.

He called on everyone to welcome Eid with joy and positivity and to stay connected with their loved ones via social media.

Mass testing

Dr Amna Al Dahhak Al Shamsi, the official spokesperson of the UAE Government, said mass testing continues across the country.

She stressed on the importance of adhering to precautionary measures and cooperating with the authorities.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 2,2020

Dubai, May 2: Saudi Arabia has confirmed 1,362 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients in the country to 25,459, the Ministry of Health reported Saturday.

In the daily media briefing, the ministry announced 7 more deaths and 210 new recoveries, raising the total number of fatalities and recoveries to 176 and 3,765, respectively.

Out of the 1,362 new cases reported today, 249 were confirmed in Medina, 245 in Jeddah, 244 in Mecca, 161 in Riyadh, in addition to 126 infections in Dammam, 81 in Khobar and 80 in Jubail.

Dr. Mohammed Al Abd Al Aly, spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health reiterated that so far there was no evidence that hot weather will curtail the spread of coronavirus.

Authorities continue to urge people to stay at home unless necessary despite having relaxed some restrictions and curfews at the start of Ramadan.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.