Fire rips through Dubai skyscraper
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Fire rips through the Torch skyscraper in Dubai
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A fire has swept through the Torch skyscraper in Dubai, one of the tallest residential buildings in the world.
Strong winds helped the blaze to spread across the 336.1m (1,105ft) high building in the marina district.
One eyewitness told the BBC "there was debris flying everywhere, falling into neighbouring buildings". Later reports said the fire was under control.
It is not known what caused the blaze. Hundreds of people were evacuated and there are no reports of any casualties.
'Like Titanic'
Footage posted on social media showed what looked like molten glass and pieces of masonry falling down.
There appeared to be two separate fires on the skyscraper
"In an hour-and-a-half the fire is almost out on about 60 floors, it looks like mostly the outer apartments that are damaged," eyewitness Rola told the BBC.
She said it looked like the blaze started on the 50th floor.
"It's an iconic building, people were out on balconies all around it watching - even though it was 3am (23:00 GMT Saturday)," she said.
"The civil defence came really quickly and they have said there were no casualties, everybody was told to evacuate in a timely manner and we think everybody is OK."
Another witness told Gulfnews.com that the building looked like "the Titanic going down".
Cyrille Sekretev, who lives in the nearby Princess Tower, later told the BBC that all the residents of that building had been asked to evacuate but were later allowed to return.
"I saw four floors on fire, then 20, then 60. It was very windy, so that really didn't help the situation. We were very scared that the wind would spread the fire."
The 79-storey Torch skyscraper opened in 2011.
In 2012, a fire swept through the 34-storey Tamweel Tower in Dubai.
No-one was injured, however hundreds of residents were left homeless after the blaze which police said was caused by a cigarette butt.
The Dubai marina district has been rapidly developed
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