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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.

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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."

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News Network
January 7,2020

Tehran, Jan 7: Iranian state television says 35 people have been killed and 50 others injured in a stampede that erupted at a funeral procession for a general slain in a US airstrike.

The TV says the stampede erupted in Kerman, the hometown of Gen. Qassem Soleimani where the procession was underway on Tuesday.

A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over 1 million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets in Tehran.

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Agencies
June 20,2020

Riyadh, Jun 20: Saudi Arabia will end a nationwide curfew and lift restrictions on businesses from Sunday morning after three months of lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, state news agency SPA quoted a source in the interior ministry as saying on Saturday.

The curfew will be lifted as of 6 AM local time on Sunday. Restrictions will remain, however, for religious pilgrimages, international travel and social gatherings of more than 50 people.

The kingdom introduced stringent measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in March, including 24-hour curfews on most towns and cities.

In May, it announced a three-phase plan to ease restrictions on movement and travel, culminating in the curfew completely ending on June 21.

The number of coronavirus infections has risen in recent weeks following a relaxation of movement and travel restrictions on May 28.

The kingdom has recorded 154,223 cases of COVID-19 and a total of 1,230 deaths, the highest in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia plans to limit numbers at the annual haj pilgrimage to prevent a further outbreak of coronavirus cases, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this month.

Some 2.5 million pilgrims visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long haj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. Saudi Arabia asked Muslims in March to put haj plans on hold and suspended the umrah pilgrimage until further notice.

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Agencies
June 5,2020

Dubai, Jun 5: A new set of coronavirus guidelines for UAE hotels has been published by the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority.

The guidelines, released late Thursday, require all employees to be tested for Covid-19 before reopening, and to be re-tested every 15 days.

Hotels are expected to provide an infrared thermometer and thermal camera, with employee temperatures to be tested several times per working day.

Any guest or employee showing coronavirus symptoms will not be permitted to enter hotel facilities, the guidelines stress.

Hotels must also leave a 24-hour gap between guests leaving a room, and the next guests arriving.

Facilities such as restaurants, cafes, gyms, swimming pools and beaches in hotels will resume operation under a minimum capacity.

Customers must have their temperatures taken before they enter.

The working hours of restaurants and cafes will be from 6am until 9pm, allowing four people to sit at the same table with 2.5 metres left between tables. Menus must be sterilised after each use.

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