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'People were shoving each other down the stairs and climbing over each other': Panic in Dubai as inferno rips though 63-storey hotel... but fails to halt New Year firework celebrations just 500 yards away

FElora Drury and Thomas Burrows for MailOnline

Dec. 31, 2015

The Address Downtown is currently on fire in the Middle Eastern city, with the flames running up at least 40 storeys
Hotel just across a lake from the Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building, which hosted a fireworks display at midnight
People inside the hotel have described the 'pandemonium' as people tried to escape the burning building

New Year's revellers were sent running for their lives after a fire engulfed a five-star hotel just 500 yards from where Dubai's spectacular fireworks display was due to begin.

The Address Downtown caught fire at about 9.30pm Dubai time, with the flames appearing to reach from the ground floor up another 40-or-so storeys of the 63 floor building.

Those who escaped described how people climbed over each other in their rush to escape the burning building. One Briton was forced to carry his disabled mother on his back.

A medic has revealed that at least 60 people were hurt, many with crush injuries, with officials saying one person suffered a heart attack.

However, miraculously no one is believed to have been killed.

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The fire took hold of the five-star Address Downtown, in the heart of Dubai, caught fire just hours before the midnight celebrations

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