Qatar orders arrest of mall owner as fire probe gathers pace
Security director and head of licensing department questioned
Manama Qatar's attorney-general has ordered the arrest of the owner of the Villagio Mall where a blaze killed 19 people, including 13 children, on Monday.
He also called in for questioning the mall security director and head of the licensing department after their names were mentioned in an ongoing investigation into the tragedy.
It was discovered that the daycare centre in themall complex was operating without a licence from the Social Affairs Ministry or the Supreme Education Council.
The tragedy has sparked anger among citizens, who say it could have been easily prevented if proper supervision and guidelines were in place.
Details of the fire emerged Wednesday in media reports. Some of the teachers in the nursery sent text messages before they died.
'I'm dying'
"I'm dying," one of the three Filipino teachers trapped in the fire told her aunt in a text message before she succumbed, according to Marilyn Evangelista, the victim's friend, in an interview with news channel Al Jazeera English.
Abdul Khaleq Al Huwairi, one of the firefighters who battled the fire, claimed they were not told there was a daycare centre in the mall in time. Al Huwairi discovered his colleague Husam Shahboun dead on the floor holding two children in his arms.
