Five facing arrest over deadly Doha mall fire

ARREST orders have been issued for the owner of Doha’s fire-ravaged mall and four others, Qatar’s attorney general said today.

Nineteen people, including 13 children, died in the fire at the Villaggio complex.

The official Qatar News Agency said attorney general Ali bin Feitais al-Marri had also ordered the arrest of the owner of the daycare centre where the children and four workers died in the fire at the Gulf nation’s biggest mall.

The childcare centre catered to Qatar’s large expatriate population.

The young victims included two-year-old triplets from New Zealand and three Spanish siblings.

The others facing arrest are mall officials, including the director of security.

Sprinkler systems malfunctioned at Doha’s Villaggio mall and rescue crews struggled without blueprints of the vast complex, bringing calls for sweeping safety and licensing reviews in one of the world’s fastest-growing countries.

Two firefighters were also killed.

Investigators were carrying out extensive probes through the fire-damaged sections of the Villaggio mall, but authorities have not announced the cause of the fire.

Findings from the state-ordered inquest are expected within a week.