Five people, including a member of Qatar’s royal family, were found guilty of negligence Thursday in the deadly mall fire that killed 19 people, including the only daughter of two Georgia State University professors.
“Yes the verdict is unexpected,” said Grace O, whose 2-1/2-year-old daughter Zeinah was among the 13 children killed in the blaze. “We are relieved.”
Qatar’s ambassador to Belgium, also a relative of the oil-rich country’s ruling Al Thani family, and his wife — owners of the Gympanzee day care center where the children perished — were sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families, according to CNN. A government report concluded the facility “was not licensed as a nursery by the ministry of social affairs and thus did not have the necessary safety conditions.”
The chairman of the Villaggio mall and the deputy mall manager were also sentenced to six years in prison — the maximum allowed by Qatari law. A fifth defendant — a government trade representative — was sentenced to five years behind bars.
In an interview earlier this week, Zeinah’s father, Zaier Aouani, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was “not confident” justice would be served. “The entire system has failed us.”
A short circuit in a fluorescent tube light in the upstairs storeroom of a Nike shop ignited the blaze, according to news accounts. Zeinah and the other children enrolled in the nursery were killed by the noxious smoke emanating from the fire.
Though heartened by the verdict, O said many questions remain unanswered.
“The trial only gave us some answers. We still have more questions,” she said. “To get these much needed answers, we call upon the State of Qatar to release the official report into the disaster. A simple request, that will help us all understand what went wrong.”
Parents of the victims were promised access to the report but thus far none have seen it.
“We will not stop in our fight for justice,” they said in a joint statement released after the verdict. “We will not stop in our fight for the truth. We will not stop in ensuring that this can never happen again.”
The statement went on to criticize mall officials, who re-opened the area destroyed by the fire earlier this week.
“Not once have we been shown the dignity to be able to grieve privately where our children were killed,” the statement read. “The owners and management, some of whom have been on trial, have shown us no remorse. They should be ashamed.”
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