Don’t blame Qatar for deadly fire

The parents of two-year old triplets who perished in the deadly blaze at a retail centre in Qatar earlier this week have urged the world not to blame the Gulf state for the tragedy. The fire at Doha’s Villaggio Mall on Sunday, which killed 19, has led some to raise questions about the quality of safety and security standards in the country. In the immediate aftermath, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said rescue workers’ efforts had been hampered by a lack of functioning sprinklers and adequate floor plans. However, the family of Lillie, Jackson, and Willsher Weekes said that the tragedy should not be allowed to reflect badly on Qatar. “It saddens us to read, to see and to hear misguided speculation and innuendo about the fire in Villaggio and it saddens us that it is being misused to create blame and reflect badly on our adopted home in Qatar,” Jane and Martin Weekes family wrote in a statement released last night. “We hope people will refrain from criticising the growth and ambition of this friendly country that we have called home for five years.” However, the triplets’ parents also called on the Qatari government to seek international assistance in investigating the cause of the blaze. “Because an event like this has never happened before in Qatar... the government [should] seek the support from international fire and emergency experts... to work alongside the team here to gather the facts,” the Weekes statement added. Qatari authorities have already arrested five in the wake of the fire, including Iman Al-Kuwari, who ran the Gympanzee childcare facility in the retail centre where 13 children died, along with the mall’s manager, assistant manager and the assistant director of security. Al-Kuwari is the daughter of the Gulf state’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. Mourners held a candlelit vigil in Doha earlier in the week to commemorate those who died in the Villaggio fire. By Arabian Business