tragedie in qatar: brand in villagio

Tragedy struck the nation yesterday as 19 people, including 13 children, lost their lives in a fire at the Villaggio shopping mall. The blaze, which trapped children and staff in the Gympanzee daycare centre and nursery, led to the deaths of seven young girls, six young boys, four teachers and two members of the Civil Defence team fighting the fire. Government officials said that 17 others had been injured by the fire, although four of these had already been released from hospital by yesterday evening. They also confirmed that there were no people missing, and that the area had been searched thoroughly on a number of times to ensure that nobody was trapped inside. The cause of the fire is still unknown. It broke out at about 11am and was believed to have been started in the daycare centre itself or one of the surrounding shops. Investigations are underway. At a press conference yesterday evening, officials explained that the rescue team had been forced to evacuate the children through the ceiling of the building as both entrances and exits were blocked by fire and smoke. They reported a lack of floor plans and malfunctioning safety systems as major hindrances to the rescue effort. All of the victims were expatriates, and it was announced that nationals from Spain, Japan, the Philippines, Jordan, Egypt, Benin and a number of other Arab and African countries were among the deceased. Three of the daycare employees who perished in the blaze were Filipinas, a Philippine embassy official said. Three members of the same family, originating from Spain, were tragically killed in the fire. Minister of State for Interior Affairs, HE Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and said that the authorities had done everything possible to save everybody caught up in the tragic events. “We tried our best, but when we got there, the children were trapped inside. We are very sorry for what happened. We tried as much as we could to save these people,” he said. The Minister said that the Rescue Police had reached the spot within a minute of information and the Civil Defence team arrived at the scene after two minutes. The information on the blaze was received at the Operations Room at 11.03am. Minister of Health, HE Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani, also expressed his condolences and praised the efforts of the search and rescue team. Officials suggested that a team of rescue police reached the site in one minute, while the Civil Firefighters from the Internal Security Force rushing into the Villaggio Defence personnel arrived two minutes after receiving notification of the fire. They were joined by ambulances and air ambulances in a major rescue operation, which included some 180 personnel form the Civil Defence Department. Various teams co-ordinated an evacuation plan as well as a rescue plan, but their work was hindered by a lack of access to the affected area. They suggested that the rescue team had been forced to implement their own plan when it became apparent that there were not any guidelines for evacuating the premises of the children’s daycare centre. Witnesses have presented different claims as to the response within the building itself, with some suggesting that alarms sounded throughout and others stating that the alarms did not ring and no sprinklers turned on. Responding to a question, officials said that the building’s firefighting and safety equipment was rendered useless by the thick smoke and soaring heat. Government officials highlighted the efforts of the Civil Defence team, especially the two firefighters who lost their lives attempting to save children from the blaze. The officials said that they would form a committee to look into the matter of safety requirements at buildings to prevent similar situations in the future. No one from Villaggio was available for comment yesterday, although unconfirmed reports last night suggested that two mall officials had been arrested and could be facing charges today. There was no official response to this claim. Yesterday, social networks were flooded with people expressing their condolences as news emerged about the accident, and a number of vigils have been organised for today to mark the deaths of the 19 victims. source gulfnews