Villaggio Mall is a shopping mall located in the Aspire Zone in the west end of Doha, the capital city of Qatar. It is located on Al Waab street between the Hyatt Plaza and Sports City and has over 200 stores, including many famous brands in the U.S., U.K., Italian and German markets.[3]
The mall has direct access to the Aspire Tower hotel, and has a Doha Metro station nearby. It was built along with the Aspire Zone for the 2006 Asian Games.
Inside, the interiors are Italianate-themed both as an Italian hill town, but also with a 150-meter long indoor canal with gondolas.
The Mall was partially re-opened on September 20, 2012, after meeting strict safety standards following the May fire that resulted in 19 deaths. The mall has since fully reopened, even with expanisions and extra capacity.
Gondolania Theme Park
The mall contains the Gondolania Theme Park, an indoor theme park which includes the Gondolania Ice Rink, one of two ice hockey rinks in Qatar, which is the home of the Qatar Ice Hockey League and the regional Desert Cup tournament. It is the only Olympic-size rink in Qatar. Also included are a ten pin bowling center and a roller coaster.[4]
2012 fire
On 28 May 2012 at around 11 A.M. a major fire broke out in the Villaggio Mall, triggering an alarm described by an eyewitness as being "a very benign fire alarm, almost like a door bell". At first many were not worried as there had been a recent false alarm.[5]
As the fire engulfed the Gympanzee nursery, the entrances to the nursery became blocked by smoke, trapping 13 children and four staff inside. Firefighters from the Qatari Civil Defense force were forced to break a hole in the roof of the mall to attempt a rescue. Along with the 17 trapped in the nursery, two firefighters were killed. The victims included children from Spain, New Zealand, France, Japan, South Africa and The Philippines; along with three Filipino teachers and one teacher from South Africa.[6]
There were also 17 injured persons as a result of smoke inhalation, most of them members of the Qatari Civil Defense force.[7][8][9] A total of 19 people lost their lives - 13 being children; three of them triplets from New Zealand.[10] The investigation committee revealed that an electrical fault at the Nike store as the cause of the deadly fire. It also found that all parties concerned had lacked adherence in varying degrees to related laws, systems and safety measures.[11]
The father of the killed triplets later said proper post-mortems weren't carried out on his children, despite the presence of "highly flammable paint and illegal flammable mouldings" at the mall.[12] He blamed a closed emergency exit at the mall's daycare centre for the children's deaths.[13]
It is still unclear whether or not Gympanzee was operating without a license from the Supreme Educational Council, as they had recently relinquished licensing duties to the Ministry of Social Affairs. An official at the ministry claimed that no license had ever been issued by their offices.[14]
Response and trials
Shortly following the fire, Qatar's Attorney General, Dr. Ali al-Marri, issued the arrest of five people in connection with the incident, as well as the detention of both the manager and assistant manager of Villaggio, Tzoulios Tzoulio and Rami Itani, respectively. The assistant director of mall security, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, was also detained in connection with the case.[14]
In June 2013, a lower court found five defendants guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced each to six years in jail (the maximum allowable sentence). Rami Itani and Mohammed Rahman were both acquitted. Husband and wife co-owners of Gympanzee, Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani and Iman Al-Kuwari were among those convicted, along with Tzoulios Tzoulio and Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Rabban. The last guilty verdict fell to Mansour Nasir Fazza al-Shahwani, the Ministry of Business and Trade employee that issued Gympanzee its permits, Mr. al-Shahwani was sentenced to five years in jail.[15][16]
Co-owner of Gympanzee, Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani, is Qatar's ambassador to Belgium and is part of the powerful al-Thani family, his wife, Iman al-Kuwari, is the daughter of the then-Minister of Culture, Art, and Heritage, Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari.[16][17]
Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Rabban is a private-businessman who owns the Qatari Company for Real Estate and Commercial Projects (Villaggio).[18] During his closing arguments, which are reported to have lasted approximately five hours, Mr. Rabban's defense attorney claimed that his client didn't own any shares in the mall and was not a partner in the company that owned the mall. Despite these claims, Mr. Rabban remained listed on the mall's website under “key people” as Villagio's chairman. Mr. Rabban's defense attorney's tactics were heavily criticized by one of the parents of the victims that attended the hearing:
“It is quite frustrating how the defense lawyer continues to make a mockery out of court, joking around inappropriately and wasting time. Additionally, what’s absurd is for him to the pin the blame on the Nike store employee,” Raghda Kabbani – who lost her three-year-old daughter Hana in the fire.”[15]
Appeal process and acquittal
During the appeal process, all those convicted remained free and able to travel; this was most clearly evident in the case of Sheikh al-Thani who remained in Brussels as a diplomat despite being convicted of manslaughter nearly two years prior.[19] Furthermore, all defendants were absent from the final appeal hearing. During the hearing, Judge Abdalrahman al-Sharafi declared that he would be excluding all testimonies given by the victim's family as evidence, claiming that one cannot be a witness and a plaintiff in the same case.[18]
Judge al-Sharafi further agreed with the owners of Gympanzee in their claim that it was not technically nursery, but an “entertainment centre”. This decision fell inline with the civil employee that decided to license it as such. After establishing that Gympanzee was an entertainment centre rather than a nursery, the co-owners were fare less criminally-accountable under Qatari law.[18]
On the 26th of October, 2015 Qatar's Appeals court overturned all five convictions and dropped all charges. The decision was met with shock and disappointment by the families of the blaze victims. During the judge's five-hour reading of the verdict some victim's family members reportedly stormed out of the court in anger.
While Mr. Rabban was also cleared of his involuntary manslaughter charge, the court found that his company was guilty of the same crime and, as such; Villaggio and its insurance company would have to pay a fine of only $5,500, and compensation to the victim's families.
Related Research Articles
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 until 2013 when he abdicated the throne, handing power to his fourth son Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani who was born to his second spouse, Moza bint Nassir. The Qatari government refers to him as the Father Emir.
The emir of the State of Qatar is the monarch and head of state of the country. The emir is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and guarantor of the Constitution. The emir holds the most powerful position in the country, and has a prominent role in foreign relations.
The House of Thani is the ruling family of Qatar, with origins tracing back to the Northern Arab Banu Tamim tribe. Today Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his mother Moza bint Nassir leads the house.
The Consultative Assembly is the legislative body of the State of Qatar, with 45 members. Following the 2021 Qatari general election, it has 30 elected and 15 appointed members. The body can only question the prime minister, who is appointed by the Emir of Qatar, on his policies if two-thirds of the members agree, which is unlikely given that one-third of the members are appointed by the Emir.
Al Shahaniya Sports Club, is a Qatari sports club based in Al-Shahaniya, a town 20 km from the capital Doha. Founded in 1998, the most prominent team of the club is the football team which plays in the Qatari Second Division. The club's home ground is Grand Hamad Stadium.
Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani is a Qatari statesman and a member of the Qatari royal family. He served as the minister of Islamic affairs from 1992 to 1995 and as the minister of interior from 1995 to 2013.
Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, also known as Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani or Sheikh Abdullah bin Qassim Al Thani, was the Emir of Qatar. He was born in 1880 in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. He then abdicated in favour of his crown prince and second son, Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, in 1940. Sheikh Hamad died eight years later and Sheikh Abdullah assumed office once again until 1949, when he stepped down from office in favour for his eldest son, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Thani. Oil was also discovered for the first time during his rule.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Thani is a Qatari businessman. He is from the Qatari ruling family and a distant relative of Qatar's previous ruler Sheikh Hamad. He owns the Spanish Primera Federación football club Málaga CF as well as several thoroughbred racing horses.
Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is the sister of Qatar's ruling Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and daughter of the country's former Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned. Al-Mayassa was declared the most influential person in art on Art+Auction's top-10 list and ArtReview's Power 100, and prominently appears on the Time 100, and Forbes' The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. She was listed in the 'Top 100 most powerful Arabs' from 2014 to 2017 and 2021 by Gulf Business. Al-Mayassa serves as Chairperson of Qatar Museums, and it was reported by Bloomberg that her annual acquisition budget on behalf of the organization is estimated at $1 billion.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the ministry responsible for handling Qatar's external relations as well as its diplomatic efforts, including the maintenance of its diplomatic missions across the globe. The current minister is Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani, known as Moe Al Thani, is a Qatari-Emirati sheikh, philanthropist and sportsman. He is the first Qatari to have climbed Mount Everest and the Seven Summits, the South Pole as well as Ama Dablam.
Doha News is an online news blog started in March 2009 by two American journalists, Shabina Khatri and Omar Chatriwala. It is based in Qatar and provides its readers with daily reports on breaking domestic and international news stories. It gained considerable popularity in May 2012 when it became the first news outlet in Qatar to report on the Villaggio Mall fire.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Nasser al-Thani is a Qatari businessman and member of the ruling al-Thani family.
Business Trading Company (BTC) is a Qatari trading company that is mainly composed of project developers, focusing its efforts in for retail complexes with a focus on luxury shopping, dining, and entertainment.
Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Rabban is a prominent Qatari businessman whose operations are based in Doha.
Sheikh Thani bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani is the brother of the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and son of the country's Father Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Al Thani sits on the board of directors of the Doha Film Institute and International Bank of Qatar.
Kazakhstan–Qatar relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the State of Qatar. Diplomatic relations were established in 1993. Kazakhstan has an embassy in Doha. Qatar has an embassy in Astana.
Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani is a Qatari politician who has served as Prime Minister of Qatar from 28 January 2020 to 7 March 2023 and Minister of the Interior since 28 January 2020.
On May 28, 2012, an electrical fire broke out in a shopping mall in Doha, Qatar, killing at least 19 people, including 13 children, and injuring 17. The incident was the first of its scale in Qatar.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
