Qatar arrests owner and managers of fire-ravaged mall

Manama: Qatar's attorney general has ordered the arrest of the owner of Villagio mall where a blaze killed 19 people, including 13 children.

Ali Bin Feitais Al Marri also ordered early on Wednesday the arrest of the owner of the daycare centre where the children and four women died, the director of the mall, the deputy director and the assistant of the security head, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

The mall security director and the head of licences have also been summoned after their names were mentioned in the investigations launched by the Qatari authorities following Monday’s blaze, the news agency said.

Initial reports indicated a series of safety failures and the malfunction of the sprinkler systems and said that the efforts of the firefighters to put out the blaze and to rescue the children trapped in the nursery had been thwarted by the absence of floor plans. According to some reports, the firefighters were alerted about the trapped children and nursery personnel around 30 minutes after they reached the mall.

An investigation commission was set up by the Crown Prince hours after Qatar was struck by the worst tragedy in its modern history.
  

Courtsy: http://www.iloveqatar.net/