On 18 May 2015 the Daily Mail released the story of Laura’s death from the 148th floor of the Burj Khalifa on 16 November 2014.
The reaction from the government? Denial, as per the video below.
As part of the denial it was reported in the UAE that Laura had fallen from her 14th floor apartment at Jumeirah Lakes Towers. With such a blatant lie they lost all their credibility. Laura had been staying in Room 309, Abidos Hotel Dubailand. I have all the proof.
Jumeirah Lakes Towers is 24.6 kilometres away from the Burj Khalifa, approximately a twenty minute drive. How could Laura’s body have been found on the third floor of the Burj Khalifa, as per the Coroner’s report. Had there been a windstorm which had carried her body 24.6 kilotmetres to the Burj Khalifa?
When Rob Davies of the Daily Mail asked for a comment from Emaar they did not respond to his enquiries.
Another question. Why did Emaar secretively change the glass wall of the At the Top Sky observation deck from which Laura took her life?
The observation deck at the time of Laura’s death
A photograph I found on the internet.
The gaps were made smaller at the request of the Dubai Police and the panels of glass were no longer staggered. The horizontal bars in the middle of the gaps were installed after my visit to Dubai in March 2015.
On 16 November 2017 Mark Saunokonoko’s article was published in 9News.com.au
“Strangely, Dubai Police had always refused to tell Leona where her daughter had stayed in the days leading up to her suicide. Two months after Laura’s death, from her home in Cape Town, Leona spoke on the telephone with a Dubai Police detective. He confirmed Laura’s suicide from the 148th floor of the Burj Khalifa, and even invited her to Dubai to see the footage. But despite Leona’s pleas he would not tell her about Abidos Hotel. Unbeknownst to Leona, the smoke screen was part of a Dubai government ploy to cover up the facts, in case the story went public. The contents of Laura’s handbag, which had been shipped to South Africa, led Leona to Abidos Hotel. Inside her daughter’s handbag she found several envelopes embossed with the hotel’s logo. A hotel manager told Leona two police officers had turned up shortly after Laura’s death. They had taken away her personal belongings and luggage. A detailed three-page Abidos Hotel invoice, sighted by Nine, documents Laura’s lengthy stay. Dubai Police would later lie, claiming Laura was living in a high-rise tower in a neighbourhood called Jumeirah Lakes Towers, 40km south of Hotel Abidos, and that she had jumped to her death from an apartment there.”
Emaar, which has ownership ties to Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed, has always maintained an immovable wall of silence over Laura’s suicide. Emaar’s corporate affairs department did not respond at all to multiple interview requests. Billionaire Mohamad Alabbar, the chief executive and chairman of Emaar – and one of the UAE’s wealthiest men – also blanked requests for comment. Meanwhile, after Laura’s death, Emaar quietly went about changing the design of its glass barriers on the observation deck. The gap is now higher and has been fitted with a thick cylindrical steel bar that would have stopped Laura slipping through. Signs warning of danger have been emblazoned on the glass.”
“Laura fell close to a fine dining restaurant located inside the prestigious Armani Hotel, which has 16 floors of uber-deluxe rooms and private residences in the Burj Khalifa. Armani Hotel Dubai is part owned by Emaar Properties. The hotel’s general manager, a Briton named Mark Kirby, immediately shut down communications when asked about Laura. Armani Hotels & Resorts head office in Milan, Italy also refused to comment.”
The full article:
The complicity of the Dubai government, Emaar and Armani Hotels.
Laura Vanessa Nunes 