Firefighters in Abu Dhabi are battling a blaze that broke out Tuesday in a high-rise building under construction in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The adjacent Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi hotel said in a statement that the fire started at 11:15 a.m. local time (3:15 a.m. ET) and that authorities ordered the hotel evacuated an hour and a half later.
The Ministry of Interior posted images of thick white smoke billowing from the 28-floor building and officials and firefighters on the scene. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Cities in the fast-developing Emirates have been hit by a spate of fires in recent years, including one in a residential tower in Dubai last month and another at a luxury hotel next to the city's biggest shopping mall on New Year's Eve.