— Witnesses and local media say a fire has broken out on a skyscraper in the Emirati city of Sharjah, near Dubai.

Photos posted on social media Thursday show thick black smoke billowing from a fire licking up several stories of the tower's facade.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties. The Sharjah civil defense directorate had no immediate comment.

Fires have affected several skyscrapers in the Emirates, including a February blaze that broke out at Dubai's 86-story Torch tower, one of the world's tallest residential towers. There were no major casualties in that fire.