Dubai fire: Flames rip through residential skyscraper popular with expats

Massive fire engulfs Dubai skyscraper

The fire torched 40 floors of an 86-story apartment building

Firefighters have extinguished a blaze that tore through a tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- one of the tallest residential buildings in the world.

Authorities said the fire in the 86-story tower, which started Thursday evening local time, was finally extinguished by 4 a.m. Friday, with no injuries reported.

An eyewitness told Fox News that scores of panicked residents could be seen in their pajamas seated on the pavement watching as flames engulfed the building on the side facing the water. Many of the tower's residents are European expats.

"We were sleeping and we woke up to the fire alarm and people screaming. We ran down the stairs and it took us about 10 minutes to reach from the 50th floor," said another resident, who identified hmself only as George.

"The fire was very strong at that time, about 1 a.m. Then it started calming down over the next two hours. It started on the 67th floor. That's what we were told," he said.

Video showed flames shooting up the Torch tower in Dubai's popular Marina neighborhood, with debris falling to the ground. Screaming and commotion could be heard in the background.

The cause of the fire was unclear. Government officials said they were working to find shelter for those affected.

Residents were safely evacuated from the scene early Friday morning.

It was the second fire to hit the tower in two years, the BBC reported. No serious injuries were reported in the 2015 fire.

Fires have affected several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-story luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year's Eve in 2016.

Building and safety experts have cited a popular type of cladding covering the buildings that can be highly flammable.

A devastating tower fire in London in June killed at least 80 people and prompted Britain to order more thorough testing on the cladding systems of its towers.

Fox News' Hollie McKay and the Associated Press contributed to this report.