We asked the community to tell us what their burning questions were about the tragic Villaggio fire. Since ILQ is all about YOUR voice, we've tried to put it all together. We don't have all the answers but we'll populate this as we do.
The Ministry of Interior posted that there would be a press conference at 5:30pm today which was then moved to 6pm, then delayed to 6:30 but finally started at 7pm. QTV will be airing the conference at 8pm.
The Minister of Interior has expressed his condolences to the families of those who had died in the fire in Villagio
@
casa_fuego
Where did it originate from?
Hamad Al Duhaimi, from Ministry of Interior, said that the fire originated from Gympanzee (a childrens play area)
@
marwanmm
What happened to the children in the mall?
Emergency Services had to go through an opening in the ceiling to rescue the kids.
Tragically 13 children died. (not 14. 6 boys and 7 girls)
@
iLoveQatar's questions
How long did it take emergency services to arrive from when they were notified?
Ambulances arrived on scene 8 minutes after notification
How many people died?
13 Children, 4 teachers from a nursury, and 2 rescue services workers died.
17 people were injured.
@
2S8
How was it allowed to spread so far? No safety measures?
The floor plans didn't have the right markings for entry and emergency exit and some sprinklers malfunctioned.
@
Ra_ed
Who is responsible and who is accountable for any loss of life?
They are currently investigating this and will announce. There were no mall representatives available.
@
norahJ @
DohaFernandes
How did it start? Why was it not contained immediately?
It's currently being investigated by MOI, they don't have the answers to that yet.
@
SulitiLord
What's going to happen now?
They will continue to investigate the scene, question the mall management, review any possible footage, and will keep the mall closed until this has been completed and Villaggio has been rebuilt
@
myaasar
What's going to be done to ensure this doesn't happen again in the future?
@
michu10
Why couldn't people evacuate the building within 20 minutes? It's a single floor building.
There were no clear floor plans, emergency exits were not visible, and there was a false alarm the day before.
@
michu10
What safety measures did Villaggio have in place?
There were alarms and sprinkler systems. However many sprinklers did not work due to a malfunction.
@
mlalexander9
Why weren't people forced to leave the mall? There were people standing and taking pictures inside.
No answer to that question
@
pgerhard
Was there any alarm?
Yes the alarm system went off and notified emergency services.
@
vanish_forever
Why aren't security guards trained fire wardens and aware of evacuation procedures?
No mall staff were at the conference.
@
MOI_Qatar: Emergency services were notified at 11:03am
Other shocking discoveries:
Tweets from @
sadeq_mohammad who was at the conference and gave great coverage in Arabic.
- There were no floorplans for the entry or emergency exit. Rescue services had to improvise.
- 2 rescue service workers died
- Most deaths were because of suffocation
- Firefighters were not made aware there was a nursery. 2 Firefighters sacraficed their lives as soon as they discovered.
- It took 20 minutes to get to where the children were
- There have been no reports of missing people.
Note: Villaggio will be closed until the investigation is complete and everything is repaired.
View the ORIGINAL Thread here with pictures and videos.
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