4 days ago
Death toll in Iraqi mall blaze rises to 61
dpa
Baghdad
A massive fire at a recently opened shopping mall in the Iraqi city of al-Kut killed 61 people including 14 unidentified charred bodies, the country's Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
The blaze erupted overnight at the multi-storey hypermarket in the province of Wasit, around 170 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, trapping shoppers inside the place amid rising flames and heavy smoke, eyewitnesses said.
Initially, the death toll was put at 50.
In an update, the Interior Ministry said the fire had left 61 people dead, mostly due to choking when trapped inside toilets as a result of the heavy smoke. Civil defence crews were meanwhile able to rescue at least 45 others, according to the ministry.
The fire had broken up at a five-storey commercial building comprising a hypermarket and a restaurant that was opened to the public just seven days before the disaster, according to the ministry.
Iraq's state news agency INA, citing an unnamed medical source, reported that 63 people were killed and 40 others injured in the fire.
Interior Minister Abdel-Amir al-Shammari ordered the formation of a committee to determine the causes of the blaze.
The dead included women and children, Wasit Governor Mohammed Jamil al-Miyahi said earlier, according to INA. 'We will not be lenient towards those who directly or indirectly caused this incident,' he said, declaring three days of mourning in the
province.
Al-Miyahi added that findings of a preliminary investigation into the incident would be made public in 48 hours.
