A fire in a residential building in Dubai killed 16 people and injured nine others in an older neighborhood of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as per local police.

On Saturday around noon, a fire broke out on the fourth floor of a building in the Al-Ras neighborhood of the city's historic core.

The civil defense force, in a statement quoted by UAE media, said preliminary investigations showed the fire was caused by "a lack of compliance with building safety and security requirements."

It is worth noting that nearly 90% of the 3.3 million residents of Dubai, one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates, are foreigners.

The nationalities of the victims have not been disclosed yet.

The city has previously been the scene of spectacular fires that left behind significant damage but few casualties. The authorities announced the adoption of stronger building laws in 2017 in an effort to reduce the risk of fire, which is mostly due to the usage of flammable materials in building exterior cladding.

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