A BARRY man has saved three people - including two children - from a burning building in Dubai.

James Haswell, who is originally from Barry but now lives in the United Arab Emirates city, helped three people escape the Sulafa building in the marina area when it became an inferno earlier today.

The former Barry Athletic Cricket Club and Sully Cricket Club player carried two children, one on each arm, out of the tower, where he has lived on the seventieth floor for around four years.

Mr Haswell and his girlfriend, Nicola Ingram, were getting ready to head out for lunch when she spotted some smoke coming from a floor below them.

At first they thought it might have been a barbecue, but it soon became obvious it was a fire and that they needed to get out quickly.

They were forced to make their way down the stairs as the lift had already been shut down in the emergency.

But Mr Haswell's girlfriend had split her foot open the previous day and he had to carry her for 35 flights of stairs.

He said it took about five or ten minutes for the alarms to be activated in the building which has nearly 80 floors.

"It was an absolute nightmare," he said. "We didn't know the severe nature of the fire until we got out of the building.

"We couldn't get out quick enough.

"As we got further down we saw families with children trying to get out.

"I put kids on each arm and carried them out of the building."

Mr Haswell praised a nearby hotel for providing an emergency room for those affected by the fire.

He also said that emergency services had done their utmost to tackle the blaze which started on the south side of the tower but was spread quickly

"We are currently waiting to here updates but I've heard some people in the lower floors may have been allowed back in," he added.

It is unclear yet what caused the fire, which is said to have engulfed around 30 floors.