by Natasha Tynes | Mar 19, 2005 | Doha affairs, The Disturbing
We are fine and still in one piece so far. We were home when the blast occurred around 9:00pm. We heard it loud and clear! The apartment shook a bit as a result of the blast but we dismissed it, jokingly saying it must be al-Qaeda.
Apparently it was a real blast. Since the target at the outset appears to have been a British school, I’m going to go ahead and say it looks like it must have been a terrorist attack! I don’t think I ever heard a bomb blast before. That was a first.
Recently, an audiotape was circulated on an Islamic website from al-Qaeda’s branch in Saudi Arabia threatening that there would be a bomb blast in Doha, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. This one appears to have occurred about 500-700 meters from the Qatar TV/Jazeera complex. The facility is referenced on maps as the Doha Players Theater. [Image above from Aljazera.net Arabic]
Great. Living here just keeps getting worse. In addition to all the things that we deal with on a regular basis, now we have to live in fear. That’s just great. Thus far, there’s no deaths being reported. I’ll post updates as things become more clear.
Here’s the geographic location of the blast, on Al Wabra St. in Doha (map is ‘zoomable‘) and the latest from Aljazeera:
Loud blast in Qatari capital of Doha
An explosion occurred in a theater near a British school in the Qatari capital Doha and some people were wounded, Al Jazeera television and witnesses said. The cause of the blast in the theater, known as the "Doha Player," was not immediately known.
Dozens of people, including foreigners, were watching a play being staged at the theater, the television said. It said a blaze broke out in the building and the blast set some cars in the area on fire. It showed footage of firefighters trying to put out flames and said ambulances took some wounded to hospital.
An AFP correspondent some 500 meters (yards) from the scene of the blast saw plumes of smoke rising from the site and a large number of ambulances.
Police have sealed off the Farek Kelab district, a residential area 5km north of the city center, where the theater is located, witnesses have said. A Shakespeare play was being performed at the theater when the explosion went off.
The British Embassy’s duty officer Bassam Tahtamouni has said that at present the Embassy has no further details as to what caused the explosion or whether the British school has been affected by the explosion.
US Embassy spokeswoman Patricia Kabra said the blast was "not that far away from the embassy … There is no information yet about the cause of the explosion," she said.
Qatari officials were not immediately available to comment. The explosion took place at about 9:15 pm local time (1815 GMT).
Update #1: Recent reports indicate that one person has been killed and as many as 50 taken to Hamad Hospital for treatment. No final assessment has been made, however. The blast apparently occurred inside a restaurant in the theater itself. The district is some distance from the US Consulate but a little over 1km from the British Embassy. Some reports have even suggested the cause to be a gas explosion in the kitchen. Here’s the latest from the AP and some recent images here, here, here and here.
Update #2: As the light of day illuminates the site of the attack, it has become clear that this was not a kitchen-related gas explosion. This was a suicide car bomb attack that has left two dead: one Briton and the bomber. Reports of the injured vary but AP is going with the official estimate of 16, earlier reports suggested 50 brought to the local Hamad Hospital. The AP story continues to be the most complete. I’ll put up a new post pulling together the latest details shortly.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 16, 2005 | Doha affairs, Shutterbug
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This sign is probably one of the most interesting things I have seen in Doha thus far. It is what I regard as localization at its best. When I first looked at it, I was confused. I thought it was a drawing of a woman and then I realized it was a picture of a man outfitted in the national dress, a dishdasheh. Cool, huh? I mean why should traffic signs here be adorned with drawings of individuals in western attire, particularly when the majority of citizens wear otherwise. I love it!
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by Natasha Tynes | Mar 4, 2005 | Doha affairs, Sports
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Since I still can’t get over how ugly Orry is, I decided to take a picture with him just for the sake of it. For non-Qatari residents, Orry is the mascot that was chosen for the 2006 Asian Games that will be held in Doha. The organizers are proud of Orry:
Constructed over 40 days, the statue took no less than 400 litres of paint, nearly 8 tonnes of steel and 40 blocks of 2 x 8 x 16 foot polystyrene, to bring to life the embodiment and symbolic personality of the games.
This mammoth, hideous creature now occupies a very dominant place along Doha’s lovely Corniche. Right next to him is a huge digital clock counting down the number of days, hours and minutes remaining until the games begin. Neat idea, but Orry is just ugly, ugly, ugly!
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by Natasha Tynes | Feb 25, 2005 | Doha affairs, The Disturbing
It has been two months since Christmas past and still the husband insists upon keeping the Christmas wreath on our front door. All my efforts to convince him to remove have been to no avail. One day with Amal’s assistance, I even took it off the door and hid it. It didn’t take the husband more than 10 minutes to find it and put it back up there. For some reason he can’t let go. We can’t keep a Christmas item on display forever, can we? Isn’t this supposed to bring bad luck or something?
I’ve about reached the end of my rope here, so I’m appealing to the Internet community at-large to convince my dear hubby to remove this decoration from our door. If you think I’m in the right here please make yourself heard. If you side with the husband then go away … kidding 😉 You can try to convince me if you must.
by Natasha Tynes | Feb 24, 2005 | Doha affairs, Shutterbug
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Here are another few pictures of Doha by night taken during our second long walk along the Corniche. All enlarge with a click. My favorite is this one on the left.
If you look closely you can see Amal and I (with our backs to the camera by the tree) during a very serious conversation. In the ‘Continue reading …’ section is the Corniche bay with the famous seafood restaurant Al Bandar and the Doha Dhow dinner and coffe shop cruise ship moored near the Sheraton.
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by Natasha Tynes | Feb 23, 2005 | Doha affairs, Film, Shutterbug
As part of a growing effort to take charge of our bodies, we have begun taking near daily walks in the evening. We began by walking around our neighborhood of Bin Mahmood but yesterday we took a very long walk along Doha’s seaside Corniche. We walked about five kilometers (for those that know Doha, it was from the Movenpick Hotel to the Sheraton). It was great exercise, although I’m feeling very stiff today.
The weather was just perfect and walking by the sea was extremely refreshing and uplifting. At the end of the walk we stopped by the Sheraton, a bit sweaty and stinky, and reloaded all the calories we burnt by heaving a Fosters draft and gobbling up a pizza. While we were there we ran into some friends going to the movies to watch The Notebook and they asked us to join them. For the sake of spontaneity we did — still a bit smelly and stinky by the way. I’m not going to be cynical and jaded this time. I will tell you that the movie was a love story and very sweet. It is worth a watch.
Before I go I will leave you with some pictures taken at the walk’s end of the Doha Corniche at night.
We are fine and still in one piece so far. We were home when the blast occurred around 9:00pm. We heard it loud and clear! The apartment shook a bit as a result of the blast but we dismissed it, jokingly saying it must be al-Qaeda.
