Qatar orders arrest of mall owner after blaze that killed 13 children
Qatar has ordered the arrest of the owner of a fire-ravaged Doha shopping mall where 13 children died Monday.
Members of the Qatari civil defence prepare to bury the body of a child who perished in a blaze that whipped through a main shopping mall, during a funeral procession at a cemetery in Doha on May 29, 2012.
Qatar has ordered the arrest of the owner of a fire-ravaged Doha shopping mall where 13 children in a child-care center, four teachers and two firefighters died Monday, the state news agency reported.
New Zealand triplets and three Spanish siblings were among the those killed.
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According to the official Qatar News Agency, cited by the Associated Press, Attorney General Ali bin Feitais al-Marri also ordered the detention of the owner of the Gympanzee nursery, which bore the brunt of the fire, and the center's head of security.
The blaze reportedly erupted at the nursery, situated on the first floor in a hallway accessible only via a small passage with no emergency fire exit.
And Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has ordered a commission to investigate the tragedy, Doha-based Al Jazeera reported.
According to Agence France-Presse, newspapers in the Gulf state have questioned the wisdom of licensing a nursery in the middle of the Villagio Mall in Doha’s west end — Qatar's biggest.
Meanwhile, fires broke out at an aviation college and a girls' school in Qatar on Tuesday, a day after the tragedy, focusing concern on safety standards in the wealthy Gulf Arab state, which has won the rights to host the 2022 soccer World Cup, Reuters reported.
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Witnesses at the Villagio Mall have accused mall employees of not acting fast enough when the fire erupted, AFP reported.
The report — which did not specify any charges filed — came hours after relatives and friends held a ceremony for the victims.
Several hundred people attended a vigil at a park adjacent to the mall, while other memorials were planned at the The Pearl monument — made famous during the and on Wednesday at Doha's main church, Al-Jazeera reported.
"We're here to support the New Zealand community," Paul Hendra, a New Zealander attending the vigil, told Al Jazeera.
Asked about safety issues, he added: "Of course this is a bit of a worry. The laws don't seem to be adhered to. The laws are there but It's enforcement that is the big problem."