Dubai: New Year's celebrations will go ahead in Dubai Thursday night despite the huge fire that has engulfed a luxury hotel there, the spokeswoman for the emirate's government said.
"New Year's celebrations will proceed according to schedule," Mona Al Marri was quoted by Al Arabiya television as saying, before confirming on her Twitter account.
Fire engulfed a 63-storey skyscraper in downtown Dubai, but there appeared to be no injuries, a civil defence official said.
Large tongues of flame shooting skywards enveloped the luxury hotel and residential block, which lies across a plaza from the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, where people were gathering for a spectacular fireworks display due to mark the start of the New Year.
"There are no injuries, thank God," Major General Rashed Al Matrushi, general director of the Dubai Civil Defence, told the the pan-Arab television channel Al Arabiya.
He said the festivities would go ahead despite the fire, saying: "Of course, it will not affect the celebration."
The Dubai government's media office tweeted that civil defence teams were working to evacuate the 300-metre hotel and tackle the fire.
It said the blaze had started on the 20th floor, on the outside of the tower, and that internal fire-fighting systems were operating to try to prevent it getting inside the hotel. Four fire brigade teams were at the site.
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