13 children, 6 adults killed in Doha shopping mall fire

Author: Nehal El-Sherif

   Doha (dpa) - At least 19 people including 13 children died Monday after a fire broke out in a shopping mall in the Qatari capital Doha, the Interior Ministry said.

   Four teachers and two civil defence workers were among the dead, according to authorities.

   The flames surrounded about 20 children in a nursery at the top of the mall after the stairs leading to it collapsed, Interior Minister Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani said.

   Doha-based broadcaster Al Jazeera reported that firefighters had to go through the roof of the mall to get to the nursery where the children were trapped.

   In Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said that a 3-year-old French girl was among the dead.

   The fire broke out at the Villagio Mall, one of Doha's biggest and most popular shopping malls, which has a movie theatre and an amusement park.

   A medical source told dpa that several people suffering from burns or smoke inhalation were being treated in hospitals.

   At least 17 people were injured, most of them from the civil defence team, Al-Thani told a press conference.

   Pictures from the scene showed black smoke billowing from the shopping centre as emergency vehicles rushed to the area.

   An investigation was under way to determine the cause of the blaze.

   The Villagio Mall opened in 2006.

   Qatar is a small gas- and oil-rich Gulf state, which is due to host the football World Cup in 2022.

Published on 29.05.2012