Updated with MOI comment
A malfunctioning car drew emergency responders to the parking lot of a mall in Abu Hamour today after people heard a loud explosion-like sound.
According to a Caribou Coffee employee inside 01 Mall, the accident took place at 5pm this afternoon.
The force of the blast was strong enough to knock down some of the parking shades.
But three young men escaped the car with only minor injuries, and first responders including the police and Al Fazaa were on the scene quickly, the staffer told Doha News.
Given the political turmoil in the region, reports of an explosion in Qatar understandably drew concerns on Twitter and Facebook this evening:
Seeing a post about an explosion at 01 Mall in #Doha. Anyone know what's going on?
— Andrew Clark (@StartToday09) July 2, 2016
But the blast was related to car trouble, according to the Caribou employee, who said the vehicle appeared to have a problem with one of its cylinders.
Hours after the incident, the Ministry of Interior posted on Twitter that it had controlled a fire at a mall in Ain Khalid.
الدفاع المدني يسيطر على حريق سيارة بمواقف أحد المجمعات التجارية بمنطقة عين خالد #الداخلية_قطر
— وزارة الداخلية – قطر (@MOI_Qatar) July 2, 2016
It then immediately tweeted a warning about the dangers of having small containers of flammable liquids in closed spaces.
الدفاع المدني يحذر من خطورة العبث بعبوات تعبئة الغاز الصغيرة في الاماكن المغلقة لامكانية تسببها بحرائق غازية #الداخلية_قطر
— وزارة الداخلية – قطر (@MOI_Qatar) July 2, 2016
Thoughts?
