Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
News

Dubai fireworks show near huge hotel blaze astonishes internet

Smoke and flames were pouring from The Address Hotel in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, but it was decided the show must go on, and New Year's Eve fireworks soared from the city's downtown core.

Whether it was a sign of resilience or insensitivity, the show went off on schedule

CBC News ·
Fireworks explode over Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, close to where flames and smoke were still billowing from the 63-storey Address Downtown hotel. (Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images)

Smoke and flames were still pouring from The Address Hotel in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, but it was decided the show must go on, and New Year's Eve fireworks soared from the city's downtown core.

Despite the fire reaching at least 20 storeys up the side of the 63-storey luxury hotel, Dubai's Media Office tweeted that the New Year celebrations at the nearby Burj Khalifa tower would go on.

Photos and videos were posted on Twitter of the fireworks show. 

Many online expressed exasperation and confusion at the decision to continue the year-end celebration. 

Officials said that one person had a heart attack and more than 14 have been injured during the hotel's evacuation, though the Reuters news agency was told by a medic on the scene that more than 60 people have minor injuries. 

Some said the celebration was an insult to the people suffering from the tragedy. 

That didn't stop others from appreciating the display as fireworks erupted from around the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. 

Some saw the fireworks as a sign of the city's resilience. 

The contrast between the celebration and the hotel's calamity led a man to reflect on the nature of the city itself. 

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

Related Stories