A discarded cigarette caused the huge blaze at a Sharjah residential tower last week, according to report.
At least 12 people were injured in the fire, which took place at the 51-storey Abbco Tower.
According to a report in Khaleej Times, the initial cause of the fire was a discarded cigarette.
Civil defense officials had previously said that the tower, which was built in 2005, was covered in cladding that has been banned for over three years.
“The fire spread faster because of the cladding,” said Colonel Sami Al Naqbi, the head of Sharjah Civil Defense. “Since the building is somewhat old, it was installed with the cladding before it was banned.”
While it is forbidden to use the older cladding in new construction projects, authorities have not mandated that buildings be retrofitted.
The now banned cladding material – a form of composite cladding panel – was found to be a factor in a number of high profile fires in Dubai, including that of The Torch tower in Dubai Marina and the Address Downtown.
In the UK, investigators also determined that the cladding was a factor in the Grenfell Tower blaze, which killed 72 people.
Follow us on
