A fire broke out on Saturday at a US$825 million (D3 billion) mall under construction in Doha, near to one of the stadiums that will host matches during the 2022 World Cup.
Hours after the blaze started at the site near Rayyan Sports Club, on the city’s western outskirts, Qatar’s interior ministry said civil defence authorities had “completely” contained the fire.
There were no reported injuries, but the building contractor said about 14,000 labourers and staff had been evacuated.
The Mall of Qatar, which will be the country’s largest shopping centre once complete, has been under construction since 2012 and was scheduled to open later this year.
Video on social media showed a thick cloud of black smoke rising over the site.
A Facebook statement by the contractor working on the centre said the fire broke out at 2.30pm.
“No casualties have been reported, and over 14,000 labourers and staff were safely evacuated from the premises,” said Mowafaq Kharbat, project director of Urbacon Trading and Contracting.
“An investigation is being conducted and details will be provided once the investigation is complete.”
The Mall of Qatar is planned to be a 500,000-square-metre retail and entertainment complex connected to the Doha Metro. It is close to the 40,000-seater Al Rayyan stadium, which is undergoing renovation for the World Cup.
A previous fire at a shopping mall was the deadliest disaster to strike Qatar in recent memory. The 2012 blaze at the high-end Villaggio shopping mall in Doha killed 19 people, including 13 children.
Most of those killed were at a day care centre inside the shopping mall, which opened in 2006 and houses an ice-skating rink and Venice-style gondolas.
Investigators blamed faulty wiring for sparking the blaze, but cited a number of factors that contributed to its spread and the deaths. Five people were sentenced to prison in 2013 in connection with the fire, but an appeals court judge overturned those convictions last October.
* Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
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Under-21 European Championship Final
Germany 1 Spain 0
Weiser (40')
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
ENGLAND WORLD CUP SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
UAE%20SQUAD
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
How Beautiful this world is!
Company%20Profile
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020