Dubai skyscraper hotel engulfed in huge blaze

A huge fire ripped through a Dubai skyscraper hotel complex hours before the city's New Year's Eve celebrations, sending flames high into the city's skyline and injuring 16 people.

Pictures posted by news agencies and local press showed the fire raging at the Address Hotel near the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Dubai government officials were adamant the blaze would not stop the New Year celebrations, which went ahead at midnight local time with 1.6 tonnes of fireworks being fired from the Burj Khalifa.

The Address Hotel was still smoking as the fireworks were launched into the sky.

Dubai's government said that 16 injuries had been reported, including one resident who suffered a heart attack during the rush to get out.

Police chief Khamis Matar al-Mzeima told the AFP news agency that all residents had been evacuated from the building but the cause of the blaze was unknown.

According to the AP news agency, burning debris could be seen falling from the building as emergency services rushed to the scene. 

Witness Raphael Slama told AFP the fire started at around 9.30pm local time (5.30pm GMT) and rapidly spread upwards across dozens of floors.

AFP quoted one of its journalists as saying the blaze "began in the middle of the hotel, then went down like lightning before shooting up again".

"People in the vicinity began to run in panic to get away from the area," he added.

The Dubai government said the blaze started on the 20th floor on the outside of the tower, and that internal fire-fighting systems helped prevent it getting inside.

It was under control before midnight, the government said.

According to Skyscraper.com, the Address Hotel was completed in 2008, stands 63 storeys tall, and contains 196 hotel rooms and 626 flats.