DOHA // At least 12 people were killed and dozens wounded yesterday when a gas tank exploded at a Turkish restaurant in Qatar's capital.
Initial indications suggested a burst natural gas tank atop the restaurant was to blame for the blast, which happened shortly after 10am near the popular Landmark Mall shopping centre.
The force of the explosion caused the partial collapse of the Istanbul Restaurant and sent shrapnel flying as far as 50 metres away, authorities said.
Chunks of masonry, metal debris and shattered glass lay outside the restaurant in a northwestern district of the city. Cars apparently crumpled by the explosion stood nearby.
Officials are treating the explosion as an accident, though it is unclear what ignited the tank.
The 12 people killed were all Asian or Arab, said Maj Gen Saad Al Khulaifi, who heads the country’s police force.
“It was a very big blast,” he said. “It blew away cars and the shrapnel scattered 50 or 100 metres away.”
Gen Al Khulaifi said 31 people were wounded, some seriously. He said authorities would conduct a full and transparent investigation.
At least one of the dead is a Filipino, Al Jazeera reported, quoting a source at the Philippines Embassy. The source also said at least four Filipinos were wounded.
The civil defence director of operations, Hamid Al Duhaimi, said four people were found dead at the scene and the others died on their way to the hospital.
Sheikh Khalifa, the President, sent his support to Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, over the blast and his condolences to the families of the victims. Sheikh Khalifa wished a speedy recovery of those injured.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, sent similar messages of support.
Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Kareem, an Indian driver, was in hospital after being wounded from the blast while eating at a different restaurant nearby.
“I was eating in a restaurant close by and suddenly heard a big blastand everything around me exploded,” he said. “I have too much damage now, my legs are broken and my head is open.”
Alexandra Permuy, 25, a graduate student from the US who lives nearby, was startled awake by the explosion.
“At first I thought it was just thunder ... but when I looked out the window there’s not a cloud in the sky,” Permuy said.
The restaurant had recently opened following renovations and is situated among a strip of restaurants that get particularly busy late at night, she said.
Hamad Medical Corp, which manages eight hospitals and the national ambulance service, put out a call for blood donations on social media shortly after the blast happened. The website Doha News reported that dozens of people flooded hospitals to give blood.
Building safey in Qatar was brought into question in May 2012 after a fire in the Villaggio Mall killed 19 people, including 13 children at a daycare centre inside.
A member of Qatar’s ruling family was among five people sentenced to prison by a court last year for negligence over the fire.
Authorities said the blaze was caused by faulty wiring.
* Reporting by Associated Press, Reuters and Wam
THE LIGHT
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”