A fire in
the tennis court of the American University in Dubai between the hours of 6 and
6:30 am on the 21st of February, 2012 alarmed all the staff and
students on campus. There were two casualties reported.
The fire
was first noticed by the campus guard on duty who was on a smoke break and
returned to find a fire on the tennis court. He immediately called the fire
brigade and the fire was taken care of before it got extremely serious.
“Details
are quite scarce at the moment,” Media city Police chief constable Meedo Taha
said at the press conference. “We have not found any evidence of arson, so the
situation is still under investigation.” He reluctantly revealed a bag of pipes
were found under the tree next to the tennis court and that was the only
evidence for now.
Chief
Constable Taha tried to disclose as little information as possible to the press
but it was later revealed through a private phone conversation between the
Chief and an unknown caller that one of the casualties was an Engineering
student at the University, a smoker and will probably be put on student
probation for being suspected as the one who started the fire. He also revealed
that it seems the student was trying to burn himself to death.
Everyone
was off campus except for the students in the dorms, the security guards and a
few students who had come into the University, precisely 3 students. The guard
on duty first noticed smoke clouds coming from the tennis court on his way back
from his smoke break.
The last
fire incident at the University occurred 12 years ago. “Details on that
incident are sketchy,” Constable Taha said, still trying to maintain a modicum
of secrecy, “However, no casualties were reported in that incident.”
“The fire
fighters did not get to the scene as quickly as possible because as I
mentioned, there were casualties.” Said the Chief, looking rather disappointed.
Questions
are being asked as to whether the fire had anything to do with the smoking ban
on the campus. Chief Taha responded to that by saying that it was still under
investigation and new information will be disclosed as the case unfolds.
Noone is
sure if the students who were near tennis court that day were dorm students or
not, also the identities of the students and guards still remain a
mystery. The question of how this fire
actually started and so many others still remain unanswered while the case is
under investigation.
