The wall of a building site directly in front of Holiday Villa on C-Ring Road collapsed last night, leaving dozens of residents without power temporarily.

No one was apparently injured in the incident, but police have closed the site, which was being excavated to make way for a three-story office building.

So far, it could be observed that a hole about 20m deep, which wraps around the front of the residential apartment and hotel complex, had been dug out.

According to witnesses, part of a retaining wall that was just a few meters in front of apartment buildings 3 and 4 gave way and collapsed down onto the excavated site below.

The incident took place at about 5pm last night, causing power to be knocked out in buildings 3, 5, 7 and 9 of Holiday Villa.

One member of staff told Doha News that no one had been injured, although a number of Civil Defense vehicles and ambulances attended the scene.

Generators have now been brought in to power the affected buildings, he added.

This morning, the main entrance to the building site was covered with red “danger” tape, but a couple of workers could still be seen at the bottom of the hole, apparently clearing some debris.

There was no sign of attempts to shore up the collapsed wall.

The Holiday Villa complex is a landmark on the busy C-Ring Road, and includes a 358-room hotel as well as 396 residential apartments, a number of restaurants, cafes and entertainment facilities.

One bystander told Doha News that the incident “risks the structural integrity of the (apartment) buildings. There were police everywhere. Residents were outside confused.”

Construction project

The excavated site is expected to eventually turn into an office block with two basement levels, and was being built for Qatar Infrastructure Company (QI Co.), part of Taleb Group.

According to its website, QI Co. is on the panel of contractors with “most of the major public sector government organizations and consulting companies in Qatar,” including Ashghal, Kahramaa, Ministry of Interior, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Foundation, Qatar Development Bank (QDB), United Development Company (UDC) and Qatar Museums.

The project manager at Taleb Group who is responsible for the site refused to comment to Doha News about the incident.

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