High-rise tower in Dubai catches fire

A fire has broken out at a high-rise building in Dubai.
An Associated Press journalist saw smoke rising on Sunday afternoon from the tip of the Almas Tower in Dubai's Jumeirah Lake Towers neighbourhood.
Owners of the tower could not be immediately reached. Dubai civil defence fire trucks were dispatched to the area, but there was no official word from authorities.
Dubai, a skyscraper-studded city in



the United Arab Emirates, has suffered a spate of fires in its high-rises.

Dubai passed new fire safety rules last year requiring buildings with quick-burning side panelling to replace it with more fire-resistant cladding.
Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30 000 buildings across the UAE have cladding or panelling that safety experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.