The parents of the triplets who died in a fire at a Doha mall have given their only interview about the children.
Martin and Jane Weekes have spoken about their memories of two-year-old triplets Lillie, Willsher and Jackson who died on Monday at Villaggio mall in Doha, Qatar.
The triplets were at the mall’s day care centre, Gympanzee, and died along with 16 others.
In the interview, Ms Weekes says her last memory of her children is giving them a drink of water before they went to the Gympanzee creche.
Mr Weekes reveals he rushed to the scene of the fire after hearing about it, and waited to hear news of his children – eventually seeing his daughter Lillie carried out by rescuers who attempted to resuscitate her. She was taken to hospital and pronounced dead, while the Weekes also had to formally identify the bodies of Willsher and Jackson.
Their bodies will be returned to Wellington for a memorial.
Five people including the owner of the mall, the owner of the day care facility and three others were arrested yesterday in relation to the fire, Qatar News Agency reports.
Qatar Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani has offered condolences to "all the parents and relatives of those killed in this horrible fire".
Qatar's Interior Ministry said the mall's sprinkler system malfunctioned, and rescue efforts were hampered by a lack of floor plans.
Interior Affairs Minister Of State Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Khalifa says the rescue operation was not easy.
“The situation was very difficult due to the massive fire and the heavy smoke in addition to the narrow corridors leading to the nursery so new instructions were given to the search and rescue teams to find and alternative entry and that entry was from the top of the complex.”
The full list of those killed has not been issued by Qatar officials, but most of the nationalities are known from statements by various countries and families. The young victims include a 3-year-old French child, four Spanish children, an 18-month-old South African toddler and the New Zealand triplets.
3 News / AP
The video interview was removed on June 5 - as per the Weekes family's agreement with media