logo
More than 60 people killed in Iraq after fire sweeps through mall

More than 60 people killed in Iraq after fire sweeps through mall

Independent17-07-2025
More than 60 people, including women and children, have died in a devastating fire that swept through a newly opened shopping mall in eastern Iraq.
Iraqi officials confirmed on Thursday that 61 fatalities were recorded, with the majority succumbing to suffocation. The blaze, which erupted late on Wednesday in the city of al-Kut, also left 14 bodies so badly charred they remain unidentified.
Despite the tragic loss of life, civil defence teams successfully rescued over 45 individuals trapped within the inferno. The five-storey complex, which housed a restaurant and supermarket alongside the mall, had only been open for a week.
The state-run Iraqi News Agency reported that people remained missing. Photographs and videos on local media showed the building fully engulfed in flames.
Provincial Gov. Mohammed al-Mayyeh in a statement declared three days of mourning. He said the cause of the fire is under investigation but that legal cases were filed against the building owner and mall 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," al-Mayyeh said.
The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, he said.
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 and take measures to prevent a recurrence.
Poor building standards have often contributed to tragic fires in Iraq. In July 2021, a blaze at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah that killed between 60 to 92 people was determined to have been fuelled by highly flammable, low-cost type of "sandwich panel" cladding that is illegal in Iraq.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Four friends dead in horrific freeway car crash involving drunk driver
Four friends dead in horrific freeway car crash involving drunk driver

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Four friends dead in horrific freeway car crash involving drunk driver

Four friends tragically lost their lives in a car accident after a drunk driver slammed into their vehicle on a freeway in Norwalk, California. At around 1am on July 20, the group of 24-year-olds was driving home from a concert when their Nissan got involved in a crash with a California Highway Patrol vehicle and stalled on in the middle of the 605 freeway. That's when a Kia slammed into the back of the Nissan at high speed, causing the latter to burst into flames and trapping the four friends inside, where they all died. According to officials, the Kia's driver was drunk. 'This was entirely preventable due to the fact that one of the drivers was driving under the influence,' said CHP Officer Zachary Salazar. The victims were identified as Julie Harmori, her boyfriend Armando Del Campo, and their two friends, Jordan Partidge and Sam Skocili. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Kathy Stickel, Harmori's aunt, said that Partridge had called her mother after the initial crash with the CHP vehicle to let her know that the group had been in accident, but that they were okay. However, in the middle of the call, the line went dead. This was the moment the Kia slammed into their car. Stickel said that the four friend had formed deep-rooted friendships with one another that stretched back many years. 'She was about the relationships,' Stickel said of her niece, adding that the group had been friends since junior high school. The families of all four victims are turning to each other for support. 'All the parents are checking on each other,' Stickel said. 'They're also checking on people who they've met through this whole tragedy.' Family members created a joint GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses. 'Proceeds will be divided evenly among the four families' parents, as they scramble to memorialize their children,' the fundraiser page read. Heartbreaking The other two victims were identified as the couple's two friends, Sam Skocili left) and Jordan Partidge (right) The Kia driver, Iris Salmeron, 26, of Bellflower, and her passenger, who was unidentified, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Salmeron was arrested and is now facing multiple felony charges, including driving under the influence. CHP Officer Salazar said: 'Our hearts go out to the families who are involved in terms of the victims…our officers are going to investigate this to the best of their ability.'

Death toll rises after attack on church in east Congo church
Death toll rises after attack on church in east Congo church

BreakingNews.ie

timean hour ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

Death toll rises after attack on church in east Congo church

The death toll from an attack on a Catholic church in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by Islamic State-backed rebels has risen to 34, officials said. The incident took place in the place of worship in Komanda, Ituri province. Advertisement Dieudonne Duranthabo, a civil society coordinator, said: 'The bodies of the victims are still at the scene of the tragedy, and volunteers are preparing how to bury them in a mass grave that we are preparing in a compound of the Catholic church.' At least five other people were killed in an earlier attack on the nearby village of Machongani, where a search is ongoing. 'They took several people into the bush; we do not know their destination or their number,' Lossa Dhekana, a civil society leader in Ituri, told reporters. Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Force (ADF) armed with guns and machetes. Advertisement The military has confirmed at least 10 fatalities, while local media reports put the total death toll at more than 40. Mr Duranthabo said attackers stormed the church in Komanda town at around 1am. Several houses and shops were also burnt. Lt Jules Ngongo, a Congolese army spokesperson in Ituri province, confirmed 10 were killed in the church attack. Video footage from the scene shared online appeared to show burning structures and bodies on the floor of the church. Those who were able to identify some of the victims wailed while others stood in shock. Advertisement A UN-backed radio station said 43 people were killed, citing security sources. It said the attackers came from a stronghold around seven miles from the centre of Komanda and fled before security forces could arrive. Mr Duranthabo condemned the attack 'in a town where all the security officials are present'. He added: 'We demand military intervention as soon as possible, since we are told the enemy is still near our town.' Eastern Congo has suffered deadly attacks in recent years by armed groups, including the ADF and Rwanda-backed rebels. Advertisement The ADF, which has ties to the so-called Islamic State, operates in the borderland between Uganda and Congo and often targets civilians. The group killed dozens of people in Ituri earlier this month in what a United Nations spokesperson described as a bloodbath. The ADF was formed by disparate small groups in Uganda in the late 1990s following alleged discontent with President Yoweri Museveni. In 2002, following military assaults by Ugandan forces, the group moved its activities to neighbouring Congo and has since been responsible for the killings of thousands of civilians. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Advertisement The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), which has long struggled against the rebel group, has been facing attacks since the renewed hostilities between the Rwanda-backed M23.

‘My son died in the Air India crash. I was sent back the wrong body'
‘My son died in the Air India crash. I was sent back the wrong body'

Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Telegraph

‘My son died in the Air India crash. I was sent back the wrong body'

The mother of a British Air India crash victim has said her family was 'heartbroken' after receiving news that the remains of her son were wrongly identified. The London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12, killing 241 people on board. Some 169 Indian passengers and 52 British nationals were killed, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in terms of the number of British fatalities. Among the British victims were Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek, 39, and his husband Jamie, 45, who had been returning to Britain after celebrating their wedding anniversary in India. Amanda Donaghey, Mr Greenlaw-Meek's mother, told The Sunday Times that she flew to India after the crash to find her son's remains, providing a DNA sample at Ahmedabad's Civil Hospital to assist the identification process. Following a match on June 20 last year, she returned to the UK with Mr Greenlaw-Meek's coffin. But on July 5, as Mr Greenlaw-Meek and his husband's families prepared to bury the married couple together, police told Ms Donaghey that DNA tests carried out in the UK showed that Mr Greenlaw-Meek's remains were not in the coffin. 'We don't know what poor person is in that casket,' she told The Sunday Times. 'I had my doubts but to be told that was heartbreaking. This is an appalling thing to have happened. 'And we would now like the British Government to do everything in its power to find out, and bring Fiongal home.' It was revealed last week that the coffin of 71-year-old Shobhana Patel, another repatriated British victim, contained remains of multiple people. Mrs Patel was killed alongside her husband Ashok, 74, as they returned to the UK from a Hindu religious trip. Their son Miten Patel told The Sunday Times: 'There may have been a mistake done. But for religious reasons we need to make sure my mother is my mother and not somebody else's remains. 'Knowing 100 per cent that it is my mum is very important to us.' Shobhana and Ashok Patel were laid to rest last week. James Healey-Pratt, an international aviation lawyer whose firm Keystone Law is representing families of victims of the Air India crash, has told Times Radio that the identification issues have raised concerns over the total number of victims whose identities may have been misattributed. 'We know that 12 caskets were repatriated from India to the UK,' he said. 'Of those 12, two had been mishandled, misidentified. 'And so if you extrapolate that sample, you're looking at 40 mishandled remains out of 240. So that's a very large number, but we simply don't know. 'And to date, the Indian authorities have not been transparent or helpful about that, which is why there was pressure put on by the families to the FCO and the Prime Minister's office. 'So the families are waiting to hear, first thing next week, about what actions are really being done in India to provide some degree of assurance.' It is understood no blame is being put on any British agency for the blunders, Mr Healy-Pratt previously said. The only surviving passenger on the plane was Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a British businessman from Leicester, who previously told The Sun it was a 'miracle' he was alive but felt 'terrible' he could not save his brother Ajay. A preliminary report into the incident from India's aircraft accident investigation bureau found both of the plane's fuel switches moved to the 'cut-off' position 'immediately' after take-off, stopping fuel supply to the engine. It has raised questions over whether the crash was deliberate.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store