Dubai, July 23: A young prisoner died in a fire that broke out at the Ports police station in Dubai on Friday night.
A police source told Media that the 23-year-old Emirati prisoner, identified as Khalid and known as Soya, had died in the blaze that ripped through the police station in the middle of the night.
He said the man, being detained on drug charges, had set the building alight with the intention of committing suicide.
A total of 14 other prisoners were also being blamed for helping to start the fire.
An investigation into how the fire occurred is under way.
“A group of Emirati drug addicts detained at the Ports police station started the fire in their detention cell on Friday at midnight,” the source said.
Police said around 300 prisoners of different nationalities were transferred to Al Aweer Central Jail, in the aftermath of the fire.
They were examined by medical staff following their ordeal and given clean clothes and blankets.
The 14 Emirati prisoners accused of arson were now in solitary confinement at Al Aweer Central Jail, the source told Media. Police said similar incidents caused by drug addicts detained at the jail, were not uncommon.
“Such prisoners are putting their own lives and the lives of others in danger by such actions,” said the police source.
They now not only faced charges for drug taking but for murder, and the destruction of public property, he said.
——-Agencies