Civil Defence officials of Dubai are saying, at 9am, that there's one fatality and one injured.

A huge plume of smoke is drifting over Dubai, firstly going out to sea but now changing direction and heading towards Sharjah.

Schools in the area around the fire are reported to have been evacuated, roads are closed - and SZR has heavy congestion thanks to the brainless rubbernecks whose main concern is to slow down to gawp at the smoke.

From Knowledge Village an hour ago the smoke was clearly visible...

The factory is near Interchange 3, apparently somewhere near the big cement factory. Reports from eye witnesses are saying that in spite of efforts by the firefighters the fire keeps re-igniting, presumably as more of the fireworks are set off.

I'll try to update this posting as more information becomes available and the situation becomes clearer.

Fingers crossed that no-one else has been hurt.

UPDATE

Civil Defence has confirmed one death and one serious injury.

Many neighbouring warehouses have been destroyed or badly damaged - estimates are varying wildly between 20 and 80. Already figures on the damage are being bandied about, but they can't be given any credibility while the fires are still raging.

Civil Defence units are arriving from Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman to help control the fires.

Al Khail Road is chaotic, SZR not much better. And of course the morons are still with us, with eye-witness reports of them chasing emergency vehicles in an attempt to gain a few metres.

FURTHER UPDATE

Civil defence say that two people have died and one is seriously injured.

Met Office say that a sea breeze is pushing the smoke - and chemicals - inland and medical advice is to stay indoors.

Reports of up to 100 neighbouring warehouses/buildings on fire or damaged and others destroyed.

Losses are obviously going to be huge, probably hundreds of millions of dirhams. I wonder what happens to the staff of these businesses - are they kept on the payroll? That might be difficult if the company isn't able to trade. Or do they simply lose their employment? That would be disastrous for very many people.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS ON DUBAI FIRE

I noticed a visitor with a search engine enquiry "dubai explosion" from the UK. Followed it and I found that the international media is starting to cover the story.

ANOTHER UPDATE

I was in Mall of the Emirates at lunchtime and the fire was still burning well, so it certainly wasn't a small one.

Source: By Life In Dubai blog