WITNESSES have told of how they were trapped as a huge fire ripped through a luxury Dubai hotel near the world’s tallest tower on New Year’s Eve.

A huge fire ripped through a luxury Dubai hotel Thursday night, injuring 16 people, just a few hours before the emirate celebrated the new year with a spectacular fireworks display nearby.

The Address Downtown hotel, which is a few blocks from the iconic Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, was engulfed in flames across several floors as sirens wailed and helicopters hovered overhead, witnesses said.

Dubai’s police chief said all the residents of the five-star hotel had been evacuated from the scene of the blaze, the cause of which was unknown and which had still not been extinguished some four hours after it broke out.

“All the residents are out,” General Khamis Matar al-Mzeima said. “Until the fire is put out, we will not have information on what caused it,” he added.

“At least 14 people have been slightly injured, along with one medium injury, and a heart attack case registered due to people pushing” amid the smoke, the media office tweeted.

Witness Raphael Slama told AFP the fire started at around 9.30 pm and rapidly spread upwards across dozens of floors.

An AFP photographer at the scene said “it began in the middle of the hotel, then went down like lightning before shooting up again.” “People in the vicinity began to run in panic to get away from the area,” he added.

Kumar, an Indian resident in Dubai who was near the hotel with his wife, told AFP: “We saw fire coming out of the top storeys two hours before midnight and people began screaming and running away from the hotel.”

@cnnbrk address hotel in Dubai next to Burj Khalifa on fire pic.twitter.com/LzzkAYpIy2 — Adam Szczepanski (@A_Champanski) December 31, 2015

“What was strange is that the fire was disappearing and then reappearing again,” said Mohammed al-Majed, a Saudi tourist who was at the restaurant around a kilometre away. “It was mainly concentrated in the middle of the building.” “We were worried about casualties and afraid the celebrations would be cancelled.” A video circulating on social media showed anxious shoppers at the huge nearby Dubai Mall as they rushed to get out, with a woman shouting: “Folks don’t run... don’t panic”.

Angus Villar was in the hotel on the 15th floor when his father noticed a nearby room was on fire.

He told Sky News he had no choice but to carry his disabled mother on his back to get out.

He said it was “pandemonium”.

“It was the classic thing where you would expect women and children first, but no. People were shoving each other down the stairs and climbing over each other,” he said.

Kenneth Flynn, another hotel resident, said: “The whole place was up in flames. The heat was so intense, it was unbelievable. Then people started to panic, crushing each other and jumping over railings. And there was no fire alarm.”

Fire engines reportedly struggled to get to the fire, which started on the 20th floor.

#DubaiFire The Address has been evacuated, and people are being moved out of #Dubai Mall https://t.co/FmjoievZQ9 pic.twitter.com/IafdKJtw3F — Gulf News (@gulf_news) December 31, 2015

Another witness who asked not to be named and was near the hotel area told AFP that New Year’s Eve event organisers and security personnel “started panicking and were screaming and ushering people” into the nearby Dubai Mall, one of the world’s largest shopping centres.

“Half an hour later, they told us to get out of the mall because they were closing it down, he said, adding that people began running out.

“There were a lot of screams... There were a lot of people who fainted and there were many ambulances” as well as “crowding and pushing.” The government tweeted that the hotel fire erupted on the 20th floor and affected only the outer facade of the building.

“Four firefighting teams have been deployed” to fight the blaze, it added. Authorities said earlier that they had deployed thousands of security personnel to ensure visitors and residents could enjoy the New Year’s festivities safely.

The emirate went ahead with a “spectacular” fireworks display from the Burj Khalifa before spreading to various locations across the city.

They said 1.6 tonnes of fireworks would be used in the display.

Photos of the fireworks have already emerged on social media.

Dubai's spectacular New Years fireworks display went ahead despite the nearby Address hotel fire. #NYE2016 pic.twitter.com/gY5NyKXTG2 — Best Earth Pics (@BestEarthPix) December 31, 2015

vicenews: Despite the fire at the Address in Dubai, the fireworks celebration is going on as planned: … pic.twitter.com/RoFXhl5AlC — Weld Bessid (@mauritaniafrica) December 31, 2015