Latest news with #MohammedalMayyeh
Sky News
3 days ago
- Sky News
Sixty-one dead and others missing after shopping centre fire in eastern Iraq city of Kut
Sixty-one people have died in a fire at a shopping centre in the eastern Iraq city of Kut. It broke out late on Wednesday at the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall, which only opened a week ago. More than 45 people were rescued but others are still missing, according to the interior ministry and the Iraqi News Agency. The ministry said most victims died from smoke inhalation and that 14 burned bodies were still unidentified. Provincial governor Mohammed al Mayyeh declared three days of mourning and said legal cases had been opened against the owners of the centre. "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 result of a preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al Sudani has ordered the interior minister to go to Kut to investigate and take steps to prevent a similar incident. Iraq has seen several previous cases of poor building standards contributing to deadly fires. Dozens were killed in a hospital fire in Nasiriyah in 2021 after highly combustible and illegal cladding was used. More than 100 also died at a wedding in Hamdaniya in 2023 after ceiling panels were set alight by a pyrotechnics machine.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Sixty-one dead and others missing after shopping centre fire in eastern Iraq city of Kut
Sixty-one people have died in a fire at a shopping centre in the eastern Iraq city of Kut. It broke out late on Wednesday at the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall, which only opened a week ago. More than 45 people were rescued but others are still missing, according to the interior ministry and the Iraqi News Agency. The ministry said most victims died from smoke inhalation and that 14 burned bodies were still unidentified. Provincial governor Mohammed al Mayyeh declared three days of mourning and said legal cases had been opened against the owners of the centre. "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 result of a preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al Sudani has ordered the interior minister to go to Kut to investigate and take steps to prevent a similar incident. Read more from Sky News: has seen several previous cases of poor building standards contributing to deadly fires. Dozens were killed in a hospital fire in Nasiriyah in 2021 after highly combustible and illegal cladding was used. More than 100 also died at a wedding in Hamdaniya in 2023 after ceiling panels were set alight by a pyrotechnics machine.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
Fire in Iraqi shopping centre kills at least 69
A massive fire in a shopping centre in Kut city in eastern 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. READ MORE 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
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
Children among 61 dead in Iraq shopping mall blaze
A fire at a newly opened shopping mall in al-Kut, eastern Iraq, has resulted in the deaths of over 60 people, including women and children. Iraqi officials confirmed 61 fatalities, with most succumbing to suffocation, and 14 bodies remaining unidentified due to severe charring. Civil defence teams successfully rescued more than 45 individuals from the five-storey complex, which had only been open for a week. Provincial governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh declared three days of mourning and stated that legal cases have been filed against the building and mall owners as the cause is investigated. The incident highlights ongoing concerns about poor building standards in Iraq, following previous deadly fires in hospitals and wedding halls.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- BreakingNews.ie
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement
