On Tuesday, the 23rd of February, a fire at the
American University of Dubai took place in the tennis court at 6:30 am in the
morning during the public holiday. No students or teachers were on premises
when one security guard saw smoke rising from the tennis court at around 6:00
am.
Police Chief Meedo Taha was brought in to investigate the scene
of the fire after the security guards tried putting out the fire before calling
999 for help. Firefighters were unable to reach the campus in time. Two
casualties are confirmed.
Police Chief Taha says, “It is my grave duty to inform you all
that we has a tragedy on campus this morning. A fire broke out between 6 and
6:30 am on the tennis courts and we had two casualties. One of who is one of
our own, an AUD student, whose identity we cannot disclose at this present
moment. The other still remains unidentified.”
No evidence of arson was found as of yet during the
investigation. Updates of the investigation will be issued when possible.
This was not the first fire related incident of AUD as one
had taken place 12 years before Police Chief Taha was appointed as chief of
police. Details from the incident are unclear, though it was reported that the
fire had occurred on the football field, though no casualties were reported.
Campus security personal were on campus stationed at all
entrances. One security guard was taking a cigarette break outside the
university entrance when he noticed the smoke at around 6:15 am. The cloud of
smoke was large, denoting the size of the flames. Firefighters arrived on scene
and were able to put out the flames shortly but could not save the victims’
lives.
According to the security, they all had tried to put out the
flames with fire with available equipment, but by then the flames had grown too
large for them to handle, thus the late call and response of the firefighters,
within five minutes to the scene.
Police
Chief Taha, however, revealed that most security cameras on campus were blocked
by foliage and trees, leaving one camera to record the smoke rising off the
tennis courts. Details of the video are being examined by police.
“We have found a substantial evidence of a large bag that
was found on the tennis court. It was filled with medwakh and pipes. The big
bag of pipes was just under a tree off the tennis court and we have reason to
believe that the tennis courts were being used as a scene of exchange of
contraband goods” according to Police Chief Taha.
Security reported to the police that three students had
entered the campus, though they were not spotted outside the tennis courts.
“Security stated that they believed that the students were going to attend
their respective classes, despite being an off day.” Police Chief Taha.
The tennis courts are being treated as a crime scene and
will be closed off until the damages have been repaired.
