QNA News Bulletin on Villaggio Fire Investigation As it has been announced since few days, the Committee has

completed its mission to determine the causes and circumstances of the fire, which occurred in the Villagio Commercial Complex on 28 May. Before presenting the main outcomes of the Committee's report, it should be noted that: First: The Committee has completed its task within the stipulated time frame (one week), where it examined the fireplace, met and heard the testimony of all parties involved and thus prepared a technical report according to the highest standards of integrity and transparency and with the help and participation of a number of experts and specialists. Second: The committee's task (specified in the letter of designation issued by HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani), which has a technical nature, aims at defining the causes and circumstances of the incident and proposing the plans to prevent future similar incidents from occurring. Meanwhile the criminal aspect of the incident reveals of the Public Prosecution's competence. Third: The Committee has informed the families of the victims on the outcomes of its mission upon the recommendations of HH the Heir Apparent in this regard. The committee's Chairman has visited the victims' families and briefed them on the results obtained. The most important conclusions about the circumstances of this incident are: Course of Events: The fire was not premeditated. The committee made sure that the fire began in the mezzanine at Nike sportswear store due to a faulty electrical wiring in the fluorescent light, which led to the ignition of its plastics components before falling to the goods made by flammable materials. Staff of Nike store and Villaggio security men failed in extinguishing the fire.

 The first smoke was recorded at 10:50 am; then the fire has spread rapidly and the smoke leaked out to the adjacent Gympanzee, which was home to the victims. The civil defense was informed about the fire at 11:02 am after a distress call from one of the civil defense staff, who was near the Villaggio complex. The Civil Defense arrived at the scene about 11:05 am, but discovered that there are children trapped in Gympanzee after only half an hour of arrival. The Search and Rescue Team under the Internal Security Force (Lekhoya) started its operations to remove the trapped victims and succeeded to remove the first trapped at 12:50 pm The Committee was informed by police that 13 children, four school teachers and martyred fire fighters have died by smoke suffocation Conditions and circumstances: The Committee has reached the following results: The Committee found a status of lack of adherence to laws, systems, and measure by all concerned parties to different degree. This includes adherence to design, license, and safety conditions, which contributed to Villagio catastrophe. The "Gympanzee" shop was not licensed as a nursery by the Ministry of Social Affairs and thus did not have the necessary safety conditions. The Committee was also unable to confirm the presence of fire sprinklers in the Nike store. There was a lack of response among the Villagio security team, including the Nike store's staff. The Committee found that there are no effectual plans at Villagio meant to prevent, contain or at least reduce the effects of such an incident. For example, there was no early warning detection system in the commercial complex. Poor coordination between government agencies responsible for public safety besides deficiencies in fire standards, which extend beyond Villagio and Gympanzee into other buildings in Qatar. These buildings are not adhering to the laws and measures regarding safety and fire-fighting. However the committee was unable to determine the size of the problem.

 The committee has issued 11 recommendations to prevent or reduce risk of similar incidents from occurring in the future, including the review of regulations governing the activities of baby care facilities (nurseries), which adopt a definition allowing their registration under different names such as "activity center." Such a situation would open the door to circumvent about the requirements needed to obtain licenses from the Ministry of Social Affairs. sThe Committee also recommends the preparation as soon as possible of a complete list of the buildings and facilities, which are not complying with the laws to ensure their compliance with the applicable laws and reduce risks that may threaten the safety of these facilities 'customers to a minimum.