Hundreds of residents living in Nakheel’s Palm Jumeirah have been forced to flee their apartments after flooding inside their building.

It is understood that the flooding began in the Shoreline’s Building 19 on the fifth floor, setting off fire alarms around 7pm local time. Residents were told to remain outside indefinitely.

It is not known what caused the floods, although some residents told Arabian Business it was likely to have been a burst pipe.

“There is knee high water on the fifth floor and it is coming down now to all the floors, we are worried everything inside has been ruined. Nobody is telling us anything, and security staff are stopping anyone from taking pictures. It's complete chaos,” one resident said.

Other residents complained that they were not being offered any assistance from Nakheel, developer of the Palm Jumeirah.