Dozens dead after fire at shopping centre in Iraq
Iraq's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that 61 people died, most of them from suffocation, in the fire that broke out late Wednesday in the city of Kut in the province of Wasit.
Among the dead were 14 bodies that remain unidentified, it said.
Civil defence teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, the statement said.
Iraqi security forces at the scene of the fire in Kut (Hadi Mizban/AP)
The shopping centre, which had opened only a week earlier, was in a five-storey building that also contained a restaurant and supermarket.
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 governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh 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 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.
The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, he added.
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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Former president of Brazil ordered to wear electronic ankle monitor
Former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor, authorities said, in a move he described as 'a supreme humiliation'. The development came as federal police conducted searches at his home and his party's headquarters in Brasilia, in compliance with a Supreme Court order. The order prohibits Mr Bolsonaro from leaving the house at night, communicating with foreign ambassadors and diplomats or approaching embassies. The former president is also barred from using social media or contacting other individuals under investigation by the Supreme Federal Court, including his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian politician who currently lives in the United States and is known for his close ties to US President Donald Trump. Mr Bolsonaro is currently on trial at the Supreme Court accused of leading an alleged attempt to stage a coup to overturn the 2022 election in which he was defeated by left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Jair Bolsonaro is currently on trial at the Supreme Court (AP) 'It is a supreme humiliation,' Mr Bolsonaro told journalists in Brasilia after putting on the ankle monitoring. 'I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, but the precautionary measures are because of that.' On Thursday, Mr Trump wrote to Mr Bolsonaro describing his ally's treatment by the Brazilian legal system as terrible and unjust. 'This trial should end immediately,' the US president said, adding that he 'strongly voiced' his disapproval through his tariff policy. The Supreme Court's restrictions on Mr Bolsonaro are part of a second investigation against Eduardo for allegedly working with US authorities to impose sanctions against Brazilian officials. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is also the rapporteur of the case, said that the former president and his son's recent actions were 'blatant confessions of criminal conduct', such as coercion during legal proceedings, obstruction of investigations and attacks on national sovereignty. Live aerial footage from local broadcasters showed federal police vehicles outside Mr Bolsonaro's residence in Brasilia. Congressman Sostenes Cavalcante, the leader of Mr Bolsonaro's party in the lower house, told the Associated Press that officers also searched Mr Bolsonaro's office at the party's headquarters. He described the operation as 'another chapter in the persecution of conservatives and right-wing figures' in Brazil. On Tuesday, Brazil's prosecutor-general, Paulo Gonet, said in a report to the Supreme Court that the 'evidence is clear: the defendant acted systematically, throughout his mandate and after his defeat at the polls, to incite insurrection and the destabilisation of the democratic rule of law'. Mr Bolsonaro has described the trial on X as a 'witch hunt', echoing a term used by Mr Trump when he came to his South American ally's defence last week. Last week, Mr Trump imposed a 50% import tax on Brazil, directly tying the tariffs to Mr Bolsonaro's trial. The US president has hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. Mr Trump compared the Brazilian's situation to his own. On Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr Trump repeated the claim that the trial is a 'witch hunt'.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- RTÉ News
Iraq shopping mall fire kills more than 60
A fire tore through a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, killing at least 61 people, authorities have said, as grief-stricken families searched for missing relatives. Officials said many people suffocated in bathrooms, while one person said his five relatives died in an elevator. The blaze - the latest in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected - broke out late last night, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall. The cause was not immediately known, but one survivor said an air conditioner had exploded. Several people said they lost family members - and in some cases whole families - who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened in Kut, around 160km southeast of Baghdad. Footage shared on social media showed people including children standing on the roof, calling for help. An AFP correspondent reported seeing charred bodies at the province's forensic department. Ali Kadhim, 51, said he had been shuttling between the mall and the main hospital, where the victims were taken, looking for his cousin, who is missing along with his wife and three children. Back at the mall, he waited anxiously as rescuers searched for victims in the wreckage, with an ambulance on standby. "We don't know what happened to them," he said. An AFP correspondent at the scene said the blaze had been contained and the front of the building was severely charred. The interior ministry said in a statement that "the tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 charred bodies yet to be identified". 'We couldn't escape' The official INA news agency later quoted a medical source who put the toll at 63 dead and 40 injured. Wasit provincial governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told INA the victims included men, women and children. A medical source in Kut said there were "many unidentified bodies". Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, which includes a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry said. The ward of the main hospital was overwhelmed, while elsewhere, an AFP correspondent witnessed distraught relatives waiting at the forensic department for news, some collapsing in grief. One man fell apart, pounding his chest and screaming. Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, said he lost five family members in the fire. "A disaster has befallen us," he said. "We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home. "An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted -- and we couldn't escape." Lax safety regulations Moataz Karim, 45, rushed to the mall at midnight, only to be met with the devastating news that three of his relatives were missing. Hours later, he identified the charred bodies of two relatives, one of whom had begun working at the shopping centre three days ago. "There is no fire extinguishing system," he said angrily, as he waited for further news outside the forensic department. Safety standards in Iraq's construction sector are often disregarded, and the country, whose infrastructure is in disrepair after decades of conflict, often experiences fatal fires and accidents. Fires increase during the blistering summer as temperatures approach 50C. In September 2023, a fire killed at least 100 people when it ripped through a crowded Iraqi wedding hall, sparking a panicked stampede for the exits. In July 2021, a fire in the Covid unit of a hospital in southern Iraq killed more than 60 people. Governor Miyahi said local authorities would file a lawsuit against the mall's owner and the building contractor. "The tragedy is a major shock... and requires a serious review of all safety measures," he said. The government declared three days of mourning. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered a "thorough probe" into the fire to identify "shortcomings" and prevent further incidents. Several countries, including Egypt, Iran and France, offered condolences to Iraq and the victims' families. The US embassy in Baghdad likewise offered "its deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims".
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Dozens dead after fire at shopping centre in Iraq
A fire at a newly opened shopping centre in eastern Iraq has killed more than 60 people, including women and children, Iraqi officials said. Iraq's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that 61 people died, most of them from suffocation, in the fire that broke out late Wednesday in the city of Kut in the province of Wasit. Among the dead were 14 bodies that remain unidentified, it said. Civil defence teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, the statement said. Iraqi security forces at the scene of the fire in Kut (Hadi Mizban/AP) The shopping centre, which had opened only a week earlier, was in a five-storey building that also contained a restaurant and supermarket. 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 governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh 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 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. The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, he added. 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.
