Flames engulf 86-story residential skyscraper in Dubai

Dubai Emergency Response teams and Dubai police are seen on the street near Dubai's Torch tower residential building in the Marina district, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, early hours of August 4, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Dubai police cordoned off several blocks around the building, keeping people away from the fire's falling debris.

Several skyscrapers in the United Arab Emirates have caught fire in recent years, including a towering inferno that engulfed a 63-story luxury hotel in Dubai on New Year's Eve in 2016. In that blaze, as in others in Dubai in recent years, residents escaped without major injury.

Earlier this year, Dubai passed new fire safety rules requiring buildings with quick-burning side paneling to replace it with more fire-resistant siding. Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000 buildings across the UAE have cladding or paneling that safety experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.

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.

AP