Fire Kills 13 Toddlers In Doha Shopping Mall

**bb1** Mon May 28, 2012 8:52 pm

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16237099

7:17pm UK, Monday May 28, 2012
Thirteen toddlers are among 19 people dead after a fire ripped through a large shopping centre in Doha, the Qatari government has said.

Seven girls and six boys were killed after the blaze broke out at a day care centre at the Villaggio mall earlier today.
They were aged between one and three and were trapped in the day care centre for more than two hours, local journalists who attended an official news conference told Sky News.

A young child is rushed to safety by a rescuer (Picture: Brian Candy)

All of the dead were foreigners, who included Europeans and Japanese people. One Spanish family is said to have lost three children.
The casualties also included four female teachers and two firefighters.
"There don't seem to have been any fire alarms or sprinklers at the mall," a relative of a two-year-old child who died in the fire told the Reuters news agency.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing from the building at the height of the fire, which broke out at about 11am local time.
Some 17 people, including two children, were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Many of those in the shopping centre when the alarm was raised were evacuated through the roof.
The flames were under control within hours. The cause of the fire is not known.

Brian Candy, a photographer who took pictures at the scene, told Sky News: "There were more emergency services than I've ever seen in my life in attendance... air ambulances coming and going.
"There was a lot of noise… noise of emergency services people shouting instructions, what sounded like women crying, wailing in fact. Truly, a very sad and disturbing sight."

The Villaggio is one of Qatar's most popular shopping centres (Picture: Brian Candy)

The Italian-themed Villaggio, one of the biggest shopping centres in Qatar, opened in 2006 and has 220 stores as well as a funfair and ice-skating rink.
Many ex-patriates live in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, which has one of the highest standards of living in the world.
More to follow...

**Pedro Silva** Mon May 28, 2012 9:27 pm

I ask, doesn´t that day care centre have, had smoke detectors? doesn´t that day care center have, on the ceiling devices that use water to put out fires? Where are the safety measures?

**bb1** Mon May 28, 2012 9:35 pm

We don't know what has happened yet, Pedro, I am sure we will find out more over the next day or two. It's a tragedy, though, for the children, their families, everyone involved - there are six adults dead as well, which would suggest it happened very quickly?

**Rose** Mon May 28, 2012 9:37 pm

OMG First Syria..all these children..
Now this : poor children & their families

**Pedro Silva** Mon May 28, 2012 10:01 pm

yes bb1, rose, your words are mine.

**bb1** Tue May 29, 2012 10:47 am

A bit more about it today, and it is sad reading:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16237274

Triplets Among Children Killed In Doha Blaze

Triplets from New Zealand were among the 13 children killed when fire swept through a shopping centre in Doha, Prime Minister John Key has revealed.

Mr Key said the triplets, believed to be two-year-olds, were in a nursery in the Villaggio mall in the Qatari capital when the fire broke out.
Radio New Zealand has named them as Lillie, Jackson and Willsher Weekes.
Altogether 19 people died in the blaze. The child victims - seven girls and six boys - were aged one to three. All were foreign and included Europeans and Japanese.
One Spanish family is also said to have lost three children.

Local journalists who attended an official news conference told Sky News the youngsters were trapped in the day care centre for more than two hours.
Four of the adult casualties were female teachers at the nursery, three of whom were believed to have been from the Philippines, the other two were firefighters.
Mr Key said the triplets' parents were New Zealanders who had been working in the country for some time.
"It's a great tragedy," he told reporters. "Their family are obviously dealing with the terrible grief that they have at this time. Obviously it's a very tragic day for that family."
The children's grandparents were reportedly flying to Qatar to support the family.
Grandmother Jo Turner told Fairfax Media. "Our daughter rang. What can you say? It's absolutely devastating. They were everything to her. She was a great mum. She was a hands-on mum."
Jane Weekes, had lived in Qatar for about five years, although she had returned to New Zealand to give birth to the triplets.
The triplets' father, Martin Weekes, is listed on his LinkedIn networking site as a senior adviser at Qatar Media Services and a former chief executive of Auckland's Eden Park sports stadium.
Qatari officials said the blaze started in the nursery and firefighters had to break through the roof to get to children who were trapped after a staircase to the first-floor facility collapsed.
"We tried our best, but when we got there, the children were trapped inside," Qatar's Minister of State for Interior Affairs, Sheik Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani.
"We are very sorry for what happened. We tried as much as we could to save these people."

Brian Candy, a photographer who took pictures at the scene, told Sky News: "There were more emergency services than I've ever seen in my life in attendance... air ambulances coming and going.
"There was a lot of noise… noise of emergency services people shouting instructions, what sounded like women crying, wailing in fact. Truly, a very sad and disturbing sight."
Thick black smoke was seen billowing from the building at the height of the fire, which broke out at about 11am local time.
New Zealand journalist Tarek Bazley said he was in the Villaggio shopping centre with his two children when the fire started. Luckily they escaped unharmed.

He said there was a lack of urgency from officials in the mall when alarms went off and complained of a "complete lack of planning, a complete lack of coordination in terms of removing people from this area".
"The first thing I heard of it was a very benign fire alarm, it sounded more like a door bell to be honest," he said.
"After about 15 minutes I asked the attendant on the soft play area, where I was with my children, whether that was something we should be worried about, he said 'no sit tight, it's usually a false alarm'.

"About 10 minutes later someone else, a member of the public raced through this area and said 'everybody out, you've got to get out now, the other half of the mall is on fire'."
The interior ministry acknowledged that malfunctioning sprinkler systems and a lack of plans of the building hampered the rescue operation. It said a special committee would now be set up monitor whether safety standards are being followed.

Some 17 people, including two children, were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
The Italian-themed Villaggio, one of the biggest shopping malls in Qatar, opened in 2006 and has 220 stores as well as a funfair and ice-skating rink.
It has been closed indefinitely following the blaze.
New construction projects such as the Villaggio have transformed Doha in recent years, as the country has benefitted from huge gas and oil reserves. The shopping centre is close to one of the venues for the 2022 World Cup.
There are many expatriates in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, which has one of the highest standards of living in the world.

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