Fire breaks out near fan village at Qatar World Cup

A fire has broken out near the Fifa Fan Village in Lusail where World Cup fans are staying.

Videos and pictures from Qatar on Saturday morning appeared to show plumes of thick black smoke rising into the sky which could be seen from miles around Lusail, which is situated just north of Doha.

Images show that the blaze erupted on a site under construction near the Fan Village Qetaifan Island North, where several overseas supporters are staying throughout the World Cup.

Authorities said that the fire was brought under control by the Civil Defense, and that no injuries were reported. It is unclear if the fire has been put out.

Video footage taken from a nearby highway showed the fire was in the direction of the city’s Lusail Stadium, which is scheduled to host the day’s final World Cup match, between Argentina and Mexico at 10pm local time (7pm GMT).

A fire truck could also be seen on its way heading to tackle the blaze around 1pm local time.

The fire appears to be the latest in a line of infrastructure problems that have arisen during the World Cup, which came at an estimated cost of at least £185 billion since Qatar was awarded hosting rights 12 years ago.

England and USA supporters did not manage to get back to their accommodation until gone 4am local time after Friday night’s encounter, which finished shortly before midnight, due to issues with the drop-off and pick-up shuttle service that was running from the Al Bayt Stadium. Similar issues arose around the opening match of the tournament last Sunday when Ecuador beat hosts Qatar.

Several instances of overcrowding have been documented at fan festival sites across the opening days of the tournament, while queues for the local metro service has seen fans leaving stadiums having to wait up to two hours before gaining access to local transport.