Firefighters battle blaze at high-rise tower in Dubai Marina

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Firefighters are battling a blaze at a high-rise tower in the Dubai Marina amid a sandstorm sweeping the city in the United Arab Emirates.

The government-run Dubai Media Office says the fire broke out Sunday morning in the Zen Tower. It says residents have been evacuated and there were no injuries immediately reported in the blaze. It's unclear what started the fire.

Dubai, a skyscraper-studded city, has suffered a spate of fires in its high-rises.

Dubai passed new fire safety rules last year requiring buildings with quick-burning side paneling to replace it with more fire-resistant cladding. Authorities have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000 buildings across the UAE have cladding or paneling that safety experts have said accelerates the rapid spread of fires.