Doha mall blaze hearing postponed again

The court hearing to determine who was responsible for the deadly blaze in a Qatar mall which killed 19 people, including New Zealand triplets, has been postponed.

New Zealanders Lillie, Jackson and Willsher Weekes, who were two at the time of the fire, were killed while they attended the Villaggio mall's nursery, Gympanzee.

Doha News reported that a hearing to determine responsibility for the deaths, scheduled for today, was postponed because Neither Iman Al-Kuwari, the owner of Gympanzee, nor her husband, were present.

A panel of three judges postponed the hearing until October 23 and said they would send official notices again to the homes of those who did not turn up.

Several family members of those who died in the fire attended the meeting, some of them teary-eyed, the newspaper reported.

An initial report, completed in June, found negligence by many parties led to the blaze.