At least 113 people were killed, and more than 150 injured, after a fire broke out at a wedding celebration in northern Iraq on Wednesday.
The disaster occurred in the town of Al-Hamdaniyah near Mosul in Nineveh province.
Video footage showed emergency workers climbing over charred wreckage of the wedding hall searching for survivors.
“All efforts are being made to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate accident,” a spokesperson for the Health Ministry said.
What caused the fire?
The fire tore through the building after fireworks were lit during the wedding celebration, local civil defense officials said.
Civil defense authorities reported the use of prefabricated panels that were “highly flammable and contravened safety standards” inside the hall.
“The fire caused some parts of the ceiling to fall due to the use of highly flammable, low-cost construction materials,” a statement from the civil defense authorities said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has ordered a probe into the blaze and has asked the country’s interior and health ministries to provide relief, a statement published by his office said.
The provincial governor of Nineveh, Najim al-Jubouri, said some of the injured had been transferred to regional hospitals.
He added that there were no final casualty figures yet from the fire, which suggests the death toll could still increase.
The BBC reports that the newly married couple both lost their lives in the blaze, according to Ahmed Dubardani, deputy head of the Nineveh health directorate.
Speaking to reporters earlier at a press conference, he added that at least fifty people were in critical condition, with at least half having suffered burns.
“The majority of the wounded were completely burned. And some others had 50 to 60 percent of their bodies burned. This is not good at all,” he said.
He added that the majority of those injured were young men and women – no one has been discharged so far.
Source: DW
