Locals and expats mourn Doha fire victims

Emotions were high as expatriates and locals gathered in Doha to remember the victims of Monday’s fire tragedy.

Nineteen foreigners, 13 of them children perished in a blaze at a shopping centre nursery.

The parents of two-year-old triplets were among the mourners.

Messages of sympathy and support have poured out to the New Zealand family, among them one from friend Lisa trevell.

“Try and stay strong, and try and just carry on, because that’s what your children would have wanted you to do,” she said. “It’s going to be really hard but you’ll get through it. Look around you, so many people here today, know that everyone loves you and they are thinking of you.”

The fire has pushed safety considerations to the fore as Qatar embarks on a massive building project to host the 2022 World Cup.

Doha resident Khalid al-Nima said: “In Qatar we are not used to these sort of atrocities, we have come today to be with the families, even though for me personally I don’t know them, but just by being here we can offer a sort of moral support.”

At a nearby Mosque two firefighters who died trying to rescue the children along with a Muslim boy from South Africa were buried.

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