Dozens killed in Iraqi shopping mall fire
July 17 (UPI) -- Several people are dead and an investigation is underway after a fire destroyed a five-story shopping mall in Iraq on Wednesday evening.
In a press release, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced Thursday that 61 people died in the blaze, which occurred in a mall located in the city of Kut, in the province of Wasit.
The ministry reported that most of the victims "suffocated inside the bathrooms as a result of heavy smoke," and that 14 were so badly burned they remain unidentified.
However, 45 people were also rescued from the fire by civil defense teams.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani announced Thursday that he has directed the Minister of the Interior, Abdul Amir al-Shammari, to form an investigation committee.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry then announced Thursday the committee has been formed to "investigate the real causes of the fire, and identify the locations of the defect and the responsibility accurately and transparently."
The head of the Wasit security committee, Habib al-Badri, told the New York Times that the fire was caused by an electric malfunction, and that the situation was worsened by subpar building construction and an overwhelmed rescue service.
"There was a lack of emergency exits and emergency ladders and extinguishers," al-Badri said. "And unfortunately, the province was not prepared for such an incident."
Wasit Province Governor Mohammed al-Miyahi said Thursday that "we will not show leniency toward those who were directly or indirectly responsible for this incident, which is surrounded by suspicious circumstances."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
36 minutes ago
- Fox News
Australia to recognize Palestinian statehood: ‘Humanity's best hope'
Australia plans to recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly next month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed Monday. "Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own, predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority," Albanese said, referring to the governing entity of part of the West Bank. Those commitments, he said, included the demilitarization of Gaza and the holding of elections – with no role for Hamas in a Palestinian government. Australia has designated Hamas a terrorist entity and Albanese repeated Monday his government's calls for the group to return Israeli hostages held since the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. Albanese said Australia will work with the international community to make the right of Palestinian statehood a "reality." "A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza," Albanese said. The prime minister said the situation there "has gone beyond the world's worst fears." He accused the Israeli government of continuing "to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water to desperate people, including children." Albanese's announcement followed similar declarations from the leaders of France, Britain and Canada. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Australia and other European countries for the move, accusing them of marching into a "rabbit hole." "[T]his canard, is disappointing and I think it's actually shameful," the Israeli leader said Sunday. Australia's government, in turn, has criticized Netanyahu's plans announced in recent days for a sweeping new military offensive in Gaza. The Australian leader last week spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who agreed to conditions with Western leaders as they prepared to recognize a Palestinian state. "This is an opportunity to deliver self-determination for the people of Palestine in a way isolates Hamas, disarms it and drives it out of the region once and for all," Albanese said. To date, nearly 150 of the 193 United Nations members have recognized the State of Palestine – many of whom did so decades ago. The U.S. and many of its Western allies have held off, arguing that Palestinian statehood should be the final stage of ending the conflict that has been ongoing since 1948. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, have pushed back on recognizing a Palestinian state, arguing that it would reward terrorism and do little to strengthen the position of the Palestinian Authority, which lost control of the Gaza Strip after a violent conflict with Hamas in 2007. The terrorist group has ruled Gaza ever since. The 2025 sessions of the UN General Assembly will begin on September 9 and last until September 25.
CNN
39 minutes ago
- CNN
Australia to recognize Palestinian state, leaving US increasingly isolated among key allies
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that his country will recognize a Palestinian state in September, joining a growing list of Western allies as international condemnation and anger builds over Israel's actions in Gaza. A formal recognition will be made at the United Nations General Assembly next month, where 'Australia will recognize the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own predicated on the commitments Australia has received from the Palestinian Authority,' Albanese said at a press conference. On Monday, New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters said his country was also considering recognizing a Palestinian state, and would make a decision at a cabinet meeting in September. 'New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if,' Peters said in a statement, echoing the language used by Australian officials in the weeks leading up to Monday's announcement. Describing the situation in Gaza as an 'absolute human catastrophe,' New Zealand Prime Minister Chrisopher Luxon said in a press conference that it was 'entirely appropriate that we take the time to actually make sure we weigh up our decision and work that through in a sensible way.' Australia joins the United Kingdom, France and Canada in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September. The move leaves the United States increasingly isolated from some of its closest allies in its defense of Israel's escalating military campaign that's decimated the besieged enclave after almost two years of war. If Wellington also moves, it will mean that four of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, will recognize Palestinian statehood. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she'd spoken to US Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio in a call Sunday to give him advance notice of Australia's impending announcement. A read-out of the call released by the US did not mention Palestinian statehood. In an interview with Catholic broadcaster EWTN last week, Rubio said that declarations of support for a Palestinian state were 'largely symbolic' and only 'emboldened Hamas and made it harder to achieve peace.' Albanese said Australia had sought and received assurances from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Hamas would play no role in any future Palestinian state. Other conditions include a commitment to demilitarize and to hold general elections, abolish a 'system of payments to the families of prisoners and martyrs,' and governance and education reform, as well as 'international oversight to guard against the incitement of violence and hatred,' Albanese said. 'A two-state solution is humanity's best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict suffering and starvation in Gaza,' he said. 'This is about much more than drawing a line on a map. This is about delivering a lifeline to the people of Gaza.' Canada and France have both said they would recognize a Palestinian state in September, when world leaders meet in New York for the UN General Assembly. The UK has said that it will, too, if Israel does not meet conditions that include agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a rare press conference with international media in which he called steps by Western nations to recognize Palestinian statehood 'shameful.' 'To have European countries and Australia march into that rabbit hole, just like that, fall right into it, and buy this canard is disappointing,' Netanyahu said. 'But it's not going to change our position. We will not commit national suicide to get a good op ed for two minutes.' Australian Foreign Minister Wong said, 'we cannot keep doing the same thing, and hoping for a different outcome. We can't keep waiting for the end of a peace process that has ground to a halt.' Wong framed the decision as an 'opportunity as a nation to contribute to momentum towards two states' which she underscored was 'the only prospect for peace.' Israel announced an expansion of its war in Gaza on Friday, with a planned military takeover of Gaza City that is expected to involve the forced evacuation of up to a million people. On Sunday, United Nations officials and UN Security Council member states condemned the plan, saying it would lead to 'another calamity' and constitute 'further violations of international law.' Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said what is unfolding in Gaza 'is no longer a looming hunger crisis – this is starvation, pure and simple.' Last month, the UN-backed food security agency the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned that 'the worst case scenario of famine' was unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet as starvation spreads. Hunger-related deaths are rising in the enclave, especially among children, Rajasingham told the UN Security Council. Since October 2023, 98 children have died from severe acute malnutrition — 37 since July 1 alone, he said, citing health authorities in Gaza. Israel is facing growing global condemnation over its conduct in Gaza, with large protests breaking out in major cities - including London and Australia's Sydney - as people demonstrate their horror and anger over starvation in the territory. More than 460 people were arrested at a massive protest in London on Saturday and, last week, more than 90,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to protest the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Organizers put the figure at closer to 300,000 and plan more protests this month.
an hour ago
UN nuclear watchdog official to visit Iran in a bid to improve ties but no inspections planned
TEHRAN -- The deputy head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog will visit Iran in a bid to rekindle soured ties, the Islamic Republic's foreign minister said Sunday. There will be no inspection of Iran's nuclear facilities during the visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency scheduled for Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. The visit would be the first following Israel and Iran's 12-day war in June, when some of its key nuclear facilities were struck. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 3 ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the IAEA, after American and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities. The decision will likely further limit inspectors' ability to track Tehran's program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels. 'As long as we haven't reached a new framework for cooperation, there will be no cooperation, and the new framework will definitely be based on the law passed by the Parliament,' Araghchi said. State media last week quoted Aragchi as saying during a television program that Tehran would only allow for IAEA cooperation through the approval of the Supreme National Security Council, the country's highest security body. Iran has had limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic in negotiating with the West, and it is unclear how soon talks between Tehran and Washington for a deal over its nuclear program will resume. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The U.S. bombed three major Iranian nuclear sites in Iran in June as Israel waged an air war with Iran. Nearly 1,100 people were killed in Iran, including many military commanders and nuclear scientists, while 28 were killed in Israel.
