Abu Dhabi tenants forced to leave homes after courtyard collapses

Five buildings surrounding the courtyard in Al Rayyana residential development on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi city were evacuated on Sunday night.

Residents of the Al Rayyana residential development are evacuated from their homes.
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ABU DHABI // Hundreds of tenants were forced to leave their homes last night after a ground-level courtyard collapsed into an underground car park.

Five buildings surrounding the courtyard in Al Rayyana residential development on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi city were evacuated and the developer, Sorouh, made alternate housing arrangements for the 200 or so people affected.

The area was cordoned off with police tape and Civil Defence staff were on site to assess the damage.

One resident said: "We were watching television and we heard a loud bang. We went outside to see what it was and someone said the courtyard collapsed."

The development, next to Abu Dhabi Golf Club, consists of 33 mid-rise blocks with one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

View Abu Dhabi courtyard collapse in a larger map

Gurjit Singh, chief operating officer of Sorouh, visited the scene and said a slab of concrete had fallen into the car park below in an isolated incident.

"Everybody's wellbeing is being looked after and we are currently making alternative accommodation arrangements for the tenants," he said.

The turfed slab appeared to be about the width of 12 car-park spaces on one side, and the width of nine spaces on the other.

Last week Sorouh announced it had signed deals with corporate tenants to rent out 72 per cent of the homes in Al Rayyana.