After deadly fire, Qatar probing design flaws of shopping mall

Qatar authorities are investigating possible design flaws of the country's biggest shopping mall where a fire took the lives of 19 people, including three Filipina nursery teachers on Monday. According to a report of the news site Emirates 24/7 on Thursday,  the Interior Ministry of Qatar said the corridors and stairways of the posh Villagio mall might have trapped the heat and smoke. They will also be checking if the mall's safety system -- including sprinklers and alarms -- might have malfunctioned during the fire. Emirates 24/7 said Imran al-Kuwari, the daughter of Qatar’s culture minister and owner of the daycare center where the three Filipina teachers worked, is currently in detention. The report said it is still not known what charges will be filed against her. The results for the initial investigation are expected next week. Calling for help Meanwhile, according to a report of the news site Fox News on Thursday, one of the Filipinas killed in the fire, Julie Ann Soco, 25, managed to call her aunt in the Philippines, saying: "Help me, help me, I'm going to die" before the line was cut off. Her aunt, Luzviminda Soco told The Associated Press on Thursday that she did not understand what her niece's problem was and asked her to stop crying. In the Fox News report, Luzviminda said Julie Ann was the only child of her sister, a single mother who works in Egypt. Luzviminda said it was painful that it had been years since her sister had seen Julie Ann who is now dead. Aside from Julie Ann, two other Filipina teachers and 13 children at the nursery were killed. The three Filipina victims were among about 260,000 Filipinos workers in Qatar, Fox News said. - Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News