Fire in Iraqi shopping centre kills at least 69
Iraq
has left at least 69 people dead and 11 others missing, the city's health authorities and police said on Thursday.
The five-storey shopping centre had only opened only a week ago.
Civil defence teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, Iraq's Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
A cleaning operation starts after a fire tore through a newly opened shopping centre overnight in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut. Photograph: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
Reuters footage of the aftermath of the overnight fire showed the blackened exterior of Corniche Hypermarket building, with rescue teams and security forces still at the site.
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Firefighters sprayed water on the blazing building overnight and people climbing from the roof with the help of rescue teams.
Provincial governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh declared three days of mourning. Associated Press reported he said the cause of the fire is under investigation but that legal cases were filed against the building owner and shopping centre owner. He did not specify what the charges were.
'We assure the families of the innocent victims that we will not be lenient with those who were directly or indirectly responsible for this incident,' he said.
'We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris,' city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters.
Iraqi prime minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he had directed the interior minister to go to the site of the fire to investigate.
A lack of safety measures in Iraq has led to large death tolls in fires. In 2023, more than 100 people were killed after a fire swept through a crowded wedding hall in a northern Iraqi town. – Reuters
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