Fire at Address hotel on New Year's Eve caused by electrical fault

An electrical short circuit was the reason for a huge fire at The Address Downtown Dubai hotel on New Year's Eve, forensic experts said on Wednesday.

Dubai Police said the electric fault in a spotlight is used to illuminate the hotel had caused the massive flames that broke out at the hotel.

The blaze started in the cables of a spotlight on the ledge between the 14th and 15th floors of the 63-storey hotel, according to Ahmad Mohammad Ahmad, Head of the Forensics and Mechanical Engineering Department at the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology of Dubai Police.

The information was released at a press conference at the Dubai Police Headquarters.

No deaths were attributed to the fire, said police. Some 15 people were injured and one man suffered a heart attack during the evacuation process.