Dubai, UAE - A huge fire engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on Thursday just hours before New Year's celebrations with a number of explosions heard in and around the building.
The massive blaze quickly shot up the 63-story Address Hotel in the downtown area of the Gulf metropolis, covering nearly the entire structure and sending hundreds of people fleeing for safety.
"The left side of the hotel is completely gone," Al Jazeera's Diana al-Rifai reported from the scene. "There was a minor stampede - panic set in and people ran away."
The government of Dubai's media office said on Twitter that 14 people had been injured, including a person who suffered a heart attack while trying to run away. One news report said that person had died, but there was no official confirmation.
Police closed off the area and emergency teams were working to put out the fire.
The blaze started on the 20th floor of the building and only affected the outside of the structure, Dubai's media office said.
Rifai said big pieces of the building fell from the sky and thick black smoke blanketed the entire city. Helicopters hovered around the blaze, she said.
"Apparently the fire has been put out at the top of the hotel, but lower levels are still burning. I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Rifai.
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which ran up dozens of stories of the building near the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 metres.
The New Year's Eve fireworks show nearby at the Burj went ahead as planned.
The Dubai government said the fire broke out on the 20th floor [Ayman Yacoob/EPA]