Villaggio Mall
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Villaggio Mall is a
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
located in the
Aspire Zone Aspire Zone, also known as Doha Sports City, is a sporting complex located in the Baaya district of Al Rayyan, a suburb of Doha, Qatar. Owned by the Aspire Zone Foundation, it was established as an international sports destination in 2003 and ...
in the west end of
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, the capital city of
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
. 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. Inside, the interiors are
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
-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 lost lives. Portions of the mall remain closed as a result however, the food court, ice rink, movie theater,
Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...
hypermarket, and many stores are open for business with more opening as they are able to restock their shelves.


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 Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
rinks in Qatar, which is the home of the
Qatar Ice Hockey League The Qatar International Ice Hockey League is the ice hockey league in Qatar. It was first contested in 2003. History The Qatar International Ice Hockey League (QIIHL) was founded in 2003. Usually league games are played at the ''Villaggio Ice Ri ...
and the regional Desert Cup tournament. It is the only Olympic-size rink in Qatar. Also included are a
ten pin bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...
center and a roller coaster.


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. 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. There were also 17 injured persons as a result of smoke inhalation, most of them members of the Qatari Civil Defense force. A total of 19 people lost their lives - 13 being children; three of them triplets from New Zealand. The investigation committee revealed that an electrical fault at the
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
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. 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. He blamed a closed emergency exit at the mall's daycare centre for the children's deaths. 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.


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. 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 Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Rabban ( ar, محمد بن عبدالعزيز الربان) is a prominent Qatari businessman whose operations are based in Doha. Biography Al Rabban was born and raised in Doha, and is currently one of the wealthie ...
. 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. 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 Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari ( ar, حمد بن عبد العزيز الكوّاري; born 1 January 1948) is a Qatari diplomat and politician. Dr. Al-Kuwari serves as State Minister with rank of Deputy Prime Minister. He is currently President ...
.
Abdulaziz bin Mohammed al-Rabban Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al Rabban ( ar, محمد بن عبدالعزيز الربان) is a prominent Qatari businessman whose operations are based in Doha. Biography Al Rabban was born and raised in Doha, and is currently one of the wealthie ...
is a private-businessman who owns the Qatari Company for Real Estate and Commercial Projects (Villaggio). 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.”


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. 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. 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. 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.


References

{{reflist


External links


Official website



List of shops & restaurants at Villaggio Mall
Shopping malls in Doha Ice hockey venues in Qatar Novelty buildings in the Middle East Shopping malls established in 2006