Daughter of Indian singer drowns in Dubai pool

By PMA RASHEED 

15 April 2011, The Gulf Today

DUBAI: Renowned Indian playback singer KS Chithra’s eight-year-old daughter Nandana drowned in the swimming pool of a private villa at Emirates Hills in Dubai on Thursday morning.

The body was repatriated to the Indian city of Chennai, where the singer’s family is settled, on Thursday night.

Nandana, a special needs child, was found lying in the pool at 8.30am. The child was rushed to Cedars Jebel Ali International Hospital, but it was too late, sources said.

Chithra landed in Dubai with her daughter and husband Vijayashankar a couple of days ago to perform at AR Rahman “Special Hits” musical show at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday evening to celebrate the Oscar-winning Indian musician’s playback tracks.

Manikandan, a Dubai resident who is close to Chithra’s family, told The Gulf Today that the tragedy happened while the singer and her family were preparing to leave their friend’s residence for the show’s rehearsal.

“When they saw the front door of the house open and Nandana missing, they rushed out and found her in the swimming pool. After confirming the child’s death at the private hospital, the body was taken to Dubai Police Scientific and Forensic Lab and from there to Sonapur Health Centre for embalming. By around 6.30pm the body was moved to the airport for repatriation,” he added.

The incident has plunged the entire Indian film fraternity in shock and sorrow. “It was sad news for Keralites that their beloved KS Chitra’s only little daughter Nandana died after falling into the swimming pool,” Manikandan said.

Nandana, now a Grade 1 student at a Chennai school, was born to the singer who was childless for around 15 years of her marriage.  KS Chithra had told this reporter earlier on the eve of a Dubai music show that she used to take her daughter for the music shows anywhere in the world, as Nandana is a special needs child.

When she came to Dubai, Chithra chose her sister’s home instead of staying with the rest of the troupe at a hotel arranged by concert organizers Media Factory.

Chitra and her husband Vijayashankar, an engineer-turned-businessman, were blessed with Nandana immediately after the release of the Malayalam movie titled “Nandanam,” for which Chitra sung a hit track, and thus the couple named her so.

KS Chitra has lent her voice to films in various languages and has bagged six national awards and numerous other accolades.

(Pic: Supplied) 

Massive fire guts Sharjah residential building

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 7 July 2010

A huge amount of smoke engulfed the Sharjah sky on Tuesday evening after a massive fire broke out at a residential building located at Al Buteena area on Al Arooba street in Rolla.

Sharjah Police was notified about the inferno in the 15-storey Kuwaiti Tower at around 6.05pm. The fire initially started on the first and second floors and completely gutted them before spreading to all the higher floors of the building.

Col. Wahid Al Serkal, Director of Sharjah Civil Defence, said that the main cause of the fire is not known yet, but it could have resulted from a gas cylinder explosion that triggered other gas cylinder explosions in the building.

“The top floors of the building were completely gutted. The fire did not spread to the mezzanine and ground floors,” he noted. “Debris was spreading all over the air and fire sparks were being thrown into the air from the burning building.”

“Six people residing at the building, who suffered from inhalation problems after the fire broke out, were admitted to the hospital,” he added.

“The outer facade of the building is made of fiber glass, which caused the fire to spread rapidly.”

According to the fire dousing team members, the fire spread quickly as the exterior of the building was paneled with fibre glass. The residential building was severely damaged in a major fire. Additionally, the building is surrounded by open areas and winds intensified the fire quickly.

Thousands of people gathered in the vicinity. Police cordoned off the area, and blocked most of the roads in the locale.

Col. Mohamed Eid Al Mazloum, Director of the Sharjah Police Operations Department, said that as soon as they were notified about the accident, they cordoned off the area.

“We worked hard to ensure the fire does not spread to neighbouring areas full of other residential buildings,” he noted. “Fire brigades from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain contributed in controlling the blaze and road users were asked to use alternative routes.”

Hydraulic machines and water pumps were used to control the blaze that continued till night.

“We have a mobile operation car connected to the operations room that helped us to control all the operations on the roads. Helicopters were also used to supply additional water to control the flames,” he added.

“Twenty-five fire engines and equipment were used to control the fire that continuted till later hours and explosions were rapidly heard.

The residents were evacuated from the building using the staircase and we have transferred a man and a woman to Al Kuwait hospital as they fell unconscious and suffered from breathing problems.”

Shabeeba, a resident living on the ninth floor of the building, said that her family heard the noise of the smoke detector at around 5 o clock when they were sleeping.

Immediately they vacated their house and ran out the building, taking the stairs.

In the beginning, they were still not aware of whether the fire was in their building or in the next one, as the smoke had come in from the front side of the building. She said that she moved to her cousin’s house as they were not able to go back home.

Sumesh KS, who lives in the neighbouring area, said that he saw four people being brought down by a crane. He said that the fire started at 4.30pm and that he saw two floors of the building catching fire initially.

According to officials, an injured person was taken down immediately after the fire by the police and civil defence from the balcony of the ninth floor. At 7 pm, another lady was taken down from her balcony by a crane in a fatigued condition after she had been exposed to the smoke.

According to another eyewitness, Aisha, “massive amounts of smoke rose to the sky and looked like a terrorist attack incident.”

The building has 72 flats in all, which were mainly inhabited by South Indians. The building was old, which is another speculated reason for the fire.

(With more inputs by Lina Abdul Rahman, Image Credit: Nisham A. Manaf)

Cabby charred to death in Sharjah

BY PMA RASHEED
The Gulf Today, 19 Aug 2009
Pix by Kamal Kassim

A Pakistani taxi driver was charred to death inside his car on Tuesday morning in Sharjah. The cause of the fire in the taxi is not yet known.
Sharjah Police have started investigations into the cabby's tragic demise.
The 45-year-old man, Sayed Ali Shah, was an employee of Sharjah's Union Taxi Company. He hailed from Pakistan's Kurrum Agency Parachinar area in NWFP, said a friend of the deceased.
A police official, who was at the site of the tragedy, told The Gulf Today that the Sharjah Police operations room received a call on Tuesday morning at around 11am, from an eyewitness who saw a taxi car in flames.
"The deceased was fully burnt along with his car, which was parked in a parking lot near a building located opposite Al Bustan Beach Hotel in the Al Khan area," the police have confirmed.
"The car was parked and not moving at the time of the accident. The body of the taxi driver was badly burnt," said the police official.
Anjad patrols, Civil Defence Department officials, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials and an ambulance were seen at the accident site.
The ambulance carried the burnt body to the forensic laboratory to ascertain the actual cause of the tragedy.
Meanwhile, Sayed Sharif Hussain, nephew of the deceased, was seen shedding tears at the site where his uncle burnt to a heap of ashes.Sharif, also a driver with Dubai's Cars Taxi, was unable to speak. He rushed to the scene where his uncle's burnt body was being shifted to the ambulance for further forensic tests. His last meeting with his uncle was 15 days ago.
Sharif will accompany the dead body during its repatriation to Pakistan, when the police procedures are completed.
Medical examiners collected evidence from the location of the accident, in order to investigate the actual reason behind the fire that erupted in the car. The investigators have to determine whether the incident was a suicide attempt or if the accident involved foul play.
"The engine of the car didn't catch fire in the accident, but the fire completely engulfed the cabin, glasses and seats. Nothing remained except for a black shirt that was found in the damaged driver's seat," the police explained.
The Gulf Today talked to an on-site medical examiner about the reason behind the eruption of fire inside the car that led to the tragic death of the driver, but he refused to reveal details about to the accident.
He said, "We cannot reveal the exact reason behind the fire and the death of the driver until we complete our investigation."
"There was nothing wrong with the engine of the burnt car, and it seemed that the fire erupted inside its cabin. So we couldn't detect any technical fault in the engine of the car," the official confirmed.
Sajid Hussain, a native friend of the deceased, said, "Ali Shah had worked with Union Taxi for almost one year and two months. He had been residing in the UAE for over ten years, most of the time in Al Ain."
Hidayath Hussain, another friend of the deceased, said, "Presently, he was living in the Hor Al Anz area of Deira. He slept there on Monday night with his other five room-mates, and left for work early on Tuesday morning."
"Ali Shah is survived by his wife, a daughter, four sons and mother," said Ikrar Husain, another neighbour, who also rushed to the scene immediately after he learnt of the tragedy.