Fire hits UAE residential tower, no casualties reported

A major fire broke out in a residential tower at Ajman in the United Arab Emirates late on Monday, the latest in a series of blazes in the country's high-rise buildings.

Residents of the tower were evacuated and firefighters were trying to extinguish the blaze, local newspaper Khaleej Times reported. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

A video posted online by police showed burning debris falling from a building of more than two dozen storeys, as police cordoned off roads leading to the site.

It was at least the fourth major high-rise fire in the UAE in three years. Last New Year's Eve, a blaze hit a downtown hotel in Dubai; in February last year, fire broke out at a 79-storey residential building in Dubai, and in November 2012, a 34-storey Dubai residential building was partially gutted.

In some of those cases, experts said the speed at which the fires spread may have been due to the use of flammable cladding on the buildings' exteriors for decoration or insulation.