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Extraordinary Fire at The Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 31, 2015 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: We are unable to get the live view right now. So can you describe what you're seeing? You know, when we hear officials say 90 percent contained, from your vantage point are you also seeing a diminishing of flames?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm seeing diminishing of flames. I'm actually counting (INAUDIBLE). Flames, you couldn't see along the side of the building on the exterior structure. It's probably a good chance it would have caught fire. They'll have an assessment after the outcome. That is some of the challenges we have heard. There's some fire still there.

WHITFIELD: Got it. And just as you were talking, we were showing and now we are seeing it again live images on the right-hand side. We can see exactly what you are talking about. A fewer flame. It is still burning, but mostly on the interior, it appears. And heavy smoke still on the outside.

Ken Robinson is also with us and currently at a local hospital not far from the address hotel.

So Ken, what are you able to see? What are you experiencing there?

KEN ROBINSON, TERRORISM EXPERT (on the phone): Hi, Fred. We can smell the fire, but we can't see it from our side of the hotel. It's a very large hospital in the Saudi and German hospital. And when I saw the fire, I went down to the emergency room to anticipate potential victims coming in. And we remained there for approximately an hour. We watched the prep that was done by the emergency staff and the information officers. They are keeping people informed and speaking with the government officials. And the government said they were going to continue with the fire display. Some people criticized that. But their main reason for doing that was to not dump one million people on the highway in the middle of a crisis. They wanted to keep all the population still so they could continue to provide first responders to the scene and not flood the roads. It was a wise decision.

And - but no people came here other than typical walk-ins who have been injured on a New Year's Eve celebratory night. No victims came to this hotel with burn or smoke inhalation injuries from the time I left the emergency room which was 30 minutes ago.

And so the crews there, the staff there went back down to a different alert level than the one they were previously maintaining where they had had gurneys and chairs and people lined up with anticipation of people bringing in injured people and helping them. It was very organized and professional.

WHITFIELD: And so Ken, given your experience, I have only been through Dubai. I haven't spent any time in downtown Dubai, especially during this kind of fireworks display. But clearly, you know, this is something Dubai is very proud of. A lot is invested. How do you assess the decision making that came behind addressing the fire under way at the 63-story building and at the same time trying - the government there, trying to maintain calm, address the fire, but at the same time carry through with this extraordinary show that attracts hundreds of thousands of people.

ROBINSON: Well, I think that they did a remarkable job because they have very good drills. Because they are such new infrastructure here, all the buildings, and they have such good standards and practices and processes, there are drills conducted all the time. I observed drills being conducted here in this hospital since I have been here. And they do them at different times of day and night. Because they have been anticipating potential problems like the rest of our governments in the western world has. And so, the hospitals know that they are going to in the game. And the decision that the government was making was one wise one because they had a choice. Cancel and then have people swarm the streets and create a crowd control problem or keep people in place, shelter in place where they are where there's no problem, let them have the time on the roads to contain the fire, allow first responders to move back and forth freely because many of the roads have been closed for hours due to the containment of the preparation for the fire display.

So there was only a few routes that would be available and they would have created massive choke points. So they made a very smart move and they made it very quickly to maintain control of the population. And remember, this is an incredibly diverse population of people from all over the world who have come to this hub. This great hub in this region to celebrate New Year's together. It is truly, colors of Benetton in the UAE right now. You have people from every continent.

[15:35:43] WHITFIELD: Ken Robinson, thank you so much for your perspective. So certainly, you underscore that the decision making really has offered a lot of reassurance possibly.

Let's find out from Tafeek Raheen. He just watched the fireworks right there in downtown Dubai. From what vantage point did you see the fireworks, Tafeek?

All right, looks like I lost Tafeek Raheen. We will try to reestablish some connection there.

CNN international anchor Becky Anderson back with us now also in Dubai.

So Becky, perhaps you heard some of what Ken Robinson was saying that the decision to carry on, at the same time put all resources in to tackle this fire really may have offered some real reassurance to people there who are used to drills taking place, whether it be in the hospital or in these high-rise buildings. What's your perspective on that?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, I think it's a slightly wider story than that. As well as we see the concerns across European capitals as to what may or could occur during these New Year's celebrations. And we were reporting on the higher preparedness of Times Square, for example, this year.

I think there's a sense that people are concerned about getting on with these New Year's celebrations that in fact, you know, that everybody is allowed to enjoy them. There was no sense at all that this was any sort of terrorist incident here. It was clearly, as far as authorities are concerned, a fire that broke out in a building very, very close to where tens if not hundreds of thousands of people are gathered for these New Year fireworks celebrations.

Fire breaks out in the hotel at about 9:35 p.m. local time. That's two-and-a-half hours or so before the fireworks were planned to go off. And fierily quickly, a message from authorities here that those fireworks would go ahead whilst they absolutely concentrated on maintaining what was going on in the address hotel, which is a five star hotel and residential building.

Sixteen people, we know, have sustained minor injuries. One was slightly worse injuries. And we are aware that at least one person had a heart attack as a result of the crowded situation and the smoke inhalation when that fire broke out. But as far as we understand, according to sources that we know there, it was a very orderly evacuation of the building.

And the show went on. And the show was, you know, a relatively long show. Twenty-five minutes, the fireworks start at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. I'm sure our viewers will be well aware of the spectacular that is the Dubai fireworks. They then move on to the Burj (INAUDIBLE), a very iconic building here and down the beach.

This is a significant display with upwards of a million people watching. You're right to point out that people here, you know, as they are in other parts of the world, organized when it comes to evacuating buildings, understanding what needs to be done. There were four teams on the ground. And the building beginning to smolder now. Clearly, some concerns about the integrity of the infrastructure there. Some reports there have been explosions after the fire took out, not that we can substantiate those at present.

But now clearly the work of keeping that fire contained. We were told some 90 percent is now contained. And maintaining the integrity of the building while there are so many people around. As they begin to move away because the fireworks, of course, are over at this point. There were a lot of people in Dubai tonight. But as I came in to celebrate these fireworks this evening, it was a very, very orderly evening here in the UAE.

[15:40:06] WHITFIELD: Becky Anderson, thank you so much.

Jacqueline Hurtado, CNN en Espanol correspondent, also in Dubai. So Jacqueline, what's your perspective?

JACQUELINE HURTADO, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Fredricka, yes. Well, we are right now walking (INAUDIBLE). The facility we were standing there seeing the fireworks show when someone -- they were asking everybody who were standing there to head towards one of the main roads here in front of the Dubai mall. And there are thousands of people who are just walking. Some of the metro stops, we were told, they are having people just walk until they can get to a safer location.

Where we were standing to see the fireworks show, was behind the building, behind the hotel. So we weren't able to see much of the fire. But while we were watching the fireworks show, few minutes before we heard a really loud explosion and suddenly you started seeing the side of this building on fire. Everybody who was standing there next to us was surprised. We had a chance to talk to someone who traveled all the way from Mexico, a tourist. And he says he was (INAUDIBLE) or he was just watching. He didn't know whether to watch the Burj Khalifa fireworks (INAUDIBLE) or the building next door that was on fire on the hotel.

So he was impressed with what was going on. He was surprised that the authorities decided to have this fireworks show. Especially because one of the buildings was on fire so close. He was telling us that he heard the news through one of his family members who (INAUDIBLE) from Mexico to let him know because when the building was on fire, he was on the opposite side. So he couldn't see anything until he received that call and he says, few minutes later he started seeing smoke come canning out of this hotel. And he had attempts to see when the fire broke out, we were actually in the lower part of the terrace (ph) where all the restaurants were booked and were going to be this fireworks show of Burj Khalifa.

Everybody heard an explosion. A lot of us didn't really know what was going on because we thought, you know, maybe they are getting ready to start the fireworks show and suddenly you just heard someone screaming and everybody was kind of scared because we really didn't know what was going on and the direction that was facing my back was toward the building, so I couldn't see. I kind of had to peek out to see the building on fire. Flames consuming this hotel.

And suddenly the authorities started telling everybody to evacuate. You heard (INAUDIBLE), the people who were out on the terrace started moving inside the Dubai mall and the people who were inside the Dubai mall were scared just because they didn't know what was going on. They kept asking what was taking place. A lot of us, you know, about the structure fire. But we didn't know much more. Authorities started evacuating everybody from that section of the mall. And people who were out on the terrace taking them outside to a safer location. And everybody who made reservations couldn't see these fireworks spectacular. A lot of us were wondering if we were going to get a refund. We were not allowed back out. And everybody was evacuated around the Dubai mall, the biggest mall in the world, building on fire. WHITFIELD: My goodness. What an incredible account, Jacqueline. So

now that the fireworks display is over, and of course, the building is still smoldering, what kind of traffic are you seeing at people? You know, are they having a difficult time getting around? Are they, you know, looking stunned? Do they simply look like, you know, nothing really extraordinary has happened? Describe what you see in people.

HURTADO: There's a lot of movement, a lot of security (INAUDIBLE). The streets are blocked off. There's congestion. A lot of these cars that are on the main streets here in front of the Dubai mall can't move. I have seen the same car and the same place where the last 10, 15 minutes. And everybody has just walking.

Before we got here to Burj Khalifa, one of the metro stop, they weren't letting riders. This stop was going to be closing. Then you needed to take other stops, other stations in order to get back to your location.

So right now I was hearing that they said they still have an opened that. So they are making everybody who was here or in (INAUDIBLE) another station. So a lot of these stations are far. So we are walking. We probably have been walking for the last 15 minutes and still haven't reached the metro station. A lot of these streets are closed. There's a lot of families, a lot of children, a lot of tourists, a lot of police here. So everybody is wondering, you know, if the police have been reopen that area. Some people try to go back into the Dubai mall but they told them no. They turned them away. So people are just now walking up and down the street.

It's about 12:45 here in Dubai. So we are heading in the direction where we can catch a metro. Something also that was interesting to mention, Fredricka, was the way that authorities evacuated everybody. Everybody was listening. Everybody was really organized. They did it in a matter of 15, 20 minutes. Everybody that was out in the area in this patio, they knew how to handle the situation. Nobody was hurt, that I noticed from being from the people who were out in the patio. They moved us inside the Dubai mall. We were there for a couple minutes and then they started evacuating everybody to the parking structure and pointing us in the direction of the street.

[15:46:30] WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Jacqueline Hurtado, thank you so much, a CNN en Espanol. Can't wait to hear more of that end of the story, which is this 15 to 20-minute evacuation, which just seems so hard to believe given this is a 63-story building. And it was fully booked. A place of 824 rooms. And now to hear that the evacuation went so smoothly according to a lot of eyewitnesses and your account as well.

And officials saying there are 14 reported injuries. Thank you so much. We'll check back with you, Jacqueline.

Meantime, remember we spoke with John Dalziel about an hour ago. And he was talking about being at this amazing race course where so many people have turned out because of the kind of vantage point to be able to watch this fireworks display at the Burj hotel.

So we have John back with us now.

So John, how was that 25-minute display? Hello, there.

JOHN DALZIEL, WITNESS: Yes, very good. Happy new year to you all. Hope you are all safe and well. It's been absolutely crazy night here. Mixed emotions here. We are live from the amazing race course which is a huge race course, about four miles outside of downtown Dubai. It's complete sell out here tonight. 10,000 residents here from all over the world here to see (INAUDIBLE), an international DJ.

One of the big selling points of coming here tonight and one of the reasons I flew in from England is because we were promised amazing views of the fireworks from the Burj Khalifa, from (INAUDIBLE), right downtown at Dubai all the way to the pond. And I would say a good hour before the fireworks were meant to go off. There was a bit of chaos and panic here at (INAUDIBLE). Some people started noticing that one of the buildings that you can see very clear from here at Mason race course up in flames. And what looked like bits of the building just falling from the sky down to the ground.

People started running. And you know, obviously, in the times we live in, it's a shame that we think like this, but we always think the worse and started running to the exits. We are getting scared. Even though we're four miles away. We could just feel (INAUDIBLE) and horrible things that falling before us.

I've got to be honest. Security here were amazing. They reassured us that everything was OK. The government was trying to find out the course of what was going on. We got reports a fire started on the balcony. And obviously, we have heard the government wanted to be bigger and better than ever before with the fireworks. That the whole world watching to see what they produce this year. And including the address in that fireworks display. A fire on the balcony spread across the building from the ground upwards. And just caused chaos in downtown Dubai.

You could see the smoke fill the skyline here in Dubai. We were promised great views of all the amazing buildings they have to offer here and all we got was just this big plume of smoke. At one state, we heard rumors that Burj Khalifa was on fire. And we were rest assured that that wasn't the case. It was just a result of the fire coming from the address.

We then started to see sparks and different colors coming from the address. And obviously, that was just they say precaution of the fire starting and setting off the pyrotechnics and the fireworks. By you know, what people think, they cleared downtown Dubai. They cleared in a calm and sensible manner. We were told 10,000 residents here to carry on as we were and just enjoy the night. And at the stroke of midnight, the fireworks just lit the sky of Dubai. The only thing it was just engulfed in a lot of smoke and still is. The Burj Khalifa (INAUDIBLE) in the colors of the flag of the country, but just surrounded by the smoke that fell just flumes from the building right now.

[15:50:27] WHITFIELD: So then, John, here you are four miles away and you mention you are just now doing a great job of explaining the kind of reassuring that officials were giving you that the show was going to go on, that you were safe, et cetera. To what degree did they give you that kind of assurance? Was there, you know, a loud speaker involved? Was it just, you know, face-to-face interaction if you went to a security person? How did you receive that reassurance?

DALZIEL: I think because of the times that we live, you know, more security has been at this event than you could ever imagine. I mean, you only have to look left and right and you see three or four security around you. And again, to credit where credit is due, they didn't disrupt the deejay, they didn't disrupt those that weren't concerned or didn't see the fire. They just made sure extra security person was made aware of the situation and was told to anybody that was panicking to remain calm. (INAUDIBLE) and just to carry on as normal and enjoy their new year's eve.

And you know, a radio broadcast back in the UK, I suppose, you know, to broadcast for many of these events I've got to say they handled it so, so well. Because initially when we could see the sky ablaze, just flames coming from this building, some people just really saw red and ran and panicked. They were very, very good in calming people and explaining what was going on. Full credit to the security.

WHITFIELD: Incredible. Well, John Dalziel, we are glad you were able to be with us. Glad you had a good time. Happy New Year to you and that you all feel good about what you came to see. You coming from the UK to Dubai, you joining a million people there in downtown Dubai to witness what is one of if not the most spectacular fireworks display for a New Year's celebration in the world taking place at the world's tallest building.

John, thanks so much.

CNN international anchor Becky Anderson still with me now.

Becky, take us into the final stretches as we continue to look at a replay now of the New Year's celebration, a 25-minute spectacular fireworks show contrasted with what we're looking at the left of our screen that address hotel burning.

So what's the latest on the way that, you know, building is either contained, further contained last report what 90 percent according to officials. What are you seeing?

ANDERSON: That's right. And I think from the images that we're seeing now those on the left of the screen clearly some hours ago. The fire breaking out at about 9:35 local time p.m. It is now nearly 1:00 in the morning here. So the pictures you're seeing on the left of your screen, viewers, are some hours ago now. And we are told that the fire is some 90 percent contained.

Clearly, the next stage will be the authorities and the emergency services making sure that the integrity of that building is actually maintained. I mean, clearly some concern about the infrastructure there now, but yes. I mean, you know, it was quite a couple of hours it has to be said here in Dubai when the address hotel, a five-star hotel and residential complex of 63 floors, 196 rooms in the hotel and some 626 service departments went up in flames effectively. We understand as far as sources tell us that a curtain in one of the rooms on the 20th floor caught alight and the rest effectively is history. And you were seeing the result of that on your screens.

What you were seeing on the right hand side of your screens of course and as you rightly point out was the juxtaposition of what happened at midnight which was some 55 minutes ago. When authorities here despite the fact that this hotel which is only a kilometer or less or so away from the Burj Khalifa was still alike, decided that these fireworks would go on, it was 25 minutes worth of spectacular starting off at the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, for about nine or ten minutes. This is probably one of the longest displays in the world because it moves on from the iconic Burj Khalifa to what is another iconic building here in Dubai, the (INAUDIBLE), the sail- shaped hotel on the water here. And then the firework display moves all the way along the beach to some 25 minutes the pictures you're seeing as far as I can tell you are those at the beginning of that display which was at the Burj Khalifa.

But a quite remarkable scene. Some one million people around in Dubai to see these fireworks in various places. Tens of thousands outside the Burj Khalifa or underneath the Burj Khalifa, so close to the address hotel which had gone up in flames, but such an oddly, oddly audience tonight. A very oddly evacuation at the hotel.

And people now at five to 1:00 in the morning making their way away from the scene. And really probably fairly low key it has to be said this evening. But the firework display went on. And life does go on in Dubai, as you can see.

[15:56:03] WHITFIELD: And they have just demonstrated that in a very big way.

Becky Anderson, thank you so much.

Let's continue talking about this extraordinary fire and display of calmness there and order in downtown Dubai based on all the information that we've learned from officials thus far.

Glenn Corbett is a fire expert and with us now.

And so, Glenn, perhaps you heard part of Becky's reporting. She re- emphasized there that officials believe this fire may have begun on the 20th floor with a curtain of some sort. Does that square with you knowing how quickly this fire has burned based on what we've been watching live today for the last two hours?

GLENN CORBETT, TACTICAL FIRE EXPERT (on the phone): Well, Fredricka, as we know from a lot of previous incidents, the first accounts are very often inaccurate. So I would probably discount that right now of course until we do a much thorough investigation.

WHITFIELD: So how might they go about trying to investigate the source of this fire and the rapidity of its spread? CORBETT: Right. So this is really important to study exactly not so

much even how the fire started but what gave it the ferocity that we saw here this afternoon. You know, it's very possible since this fire apparently spread vertically up the outside of the building as opposed to the inside points directly to what they used as an exterior finish on the building. We have had fires like these in the past that use synthetic plastics for decorative purposes, perhaps in the windows and things, where they have actually contributed greatly to this incredible fire torch up the side of the outside of the building.

WHITFIELD: That's interesting. And so, but the source or the start of the fire would it seem reasonable that it would be on the inside and then travel, you know, using what could have been an accelerant, this exterior finish, would become an accelerant of this fire? Or do you think the fire would have to begin on the outside?

CORBETT: Sure. Anything is possible on how the fire started. Could start on a balcony. I understand these buildings have balconies on them, the fact the sprinklers leads to believe the fire did actually start outside. The sprinkler system even if it was an intentional fire most likely would have been shut down or slowed down by the sprinklers. But the fact you had such a large volume of fire on the outside of the building pretty much overwhelmed the sprinkler system that's there. And my guess is the fire department is probably trying to do the best they can to pump as much water into it as they can at least putting water near where the fire is as opposed to stretching hose up 30, 40 stories.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, it's been an extraordinary thing to watch. And officials again are claiming that there are 14 reported injuries.

Glenn Corbett, fire expert, thanks so much for being with us.

And of course, we are going to continue to watch the developments here. The investigation really just beginning. This extraordinary fire at the address hotel in downtown Dubai taking place. The fire starting about two hours before the stroke of midnight. And then of course you saw what happened at the stroke of midnight there in Dubai, the 2016 celebration got under way. A spectacular fireworks display at the world's tallest building. And presumably still the 1 million people expected to converge there in downtown Dubai did just that seeing an incredible fireworks display all the while this five-star luxury hotel engulfed in flames.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me the last two hours.

Our special coverage continues now with Jim Sciutto on "The LEAD."

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers watching in the United States and around the world. This is "The LEAD." I'm Jim Sciutto in again today for Jake Tapper.

And we begin today on this New Year's Eve with breaking news.