Part of the busy shopping mall located west of Doha was damaged by a fire which broke out on Monday 28th around 11am in a sport store located in the restaurants area. The cause of this fire is still unknown.
The employees of the Gympanzee nursery, where the fire broke out, didn’t know about the danger because the alarms didn’t start off.
Birth of citizen journalism in Doha
As the mainstream media took time to reveal the extent of the damages, Doha News website was the only media to inform people living in Doha. This website, led by two independent journalists Shabina Khatri and Omar Chatriwala, has produced stories and pictures on the incident as well as a 4 minutes package produced by Usama Alony, a student from Northwestern University in Qatar.
Qatar’s talents respond
The Doha-based cartoonist Khalid Albaih, who is a regular contributor to DCMF website, has shown solidarity through a cartoon he published on Facebook.
Professional and amateur photographers from Doha also played an active role in covering news from the scene. One of them Brian Candy has posted pictures of the rescue operation on Flickr.
A customer at a ready-to-wear store also tweeted about being left in her fitting room with no information.
The fire brought many expat communities togther. The French community has also showed support to the victim's families through messages posted on the website Vivre au Qatar.
International media coverage
A press conference organised by the interior ministry around 6pm on Monday reported the death of 19 people, including13 children, four teachers and two civil defense officers. The tragic loss of triplets from New-Zealand drew attention from the local press and also the community in New Zealand.
Mahmoud Haidar and Hossam Chahboune were the two fire workers who died during the rescue operation. This tragic accident has found an echo in the international media.
Links
Stay updated on the investigation and read more about the tragic accident on Doha News website and its Twitter account. The list of the victims can be found on its Facebook page.
