At least 60 killed in Iraq shopping mall fire

 

At least 60 people were killed in a fire that broke out at a shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, authorities said Thursday, as grieving relatives of the victims gathered at the hospital searching for their loved ones.

Authorities have ordered an investigation into the blaze in a country where safety standards are often flouted.

At least two people told AFP they lost five family members who had gone to the mall, which had opened just five days earlier, to shop and have dinner.

"This painful fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in the bathrooms due to the heavy smoke, and among them were 14 unidentified charred bodies," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The Iraqi News Agency quoted Mohammed Jamil al-Mayah, governor of Wasit (where Kut is located), as saying that the victims included men, women, and children.

A medical source in Kut confirmed to AFP the presence of many unidentified bodies.

An AFP correspondent at the scene reported that rescue workers were still searching for missing people.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that civil defense teams had rescued "more than 45 people trapped inside the building" of five floors, which housed a restaurant and a supermarket.

The fire broke out late Wednesday, with reports that it first broke out on the first floor before quickly spreading to the Corniche Hypermarket.

The cause is not yet known, but a survivor told AFP that the food truck had exploded.

Ambulances continued to transport victims until 4:00 a.m. (01:00 GMT), as hospitals in Kut, about 160 kilometers east of Baghdad, were overwhelmed.

An AFP correspondent saw charred bodies at the forensic department in Wasit province.

While the fire has been brought under control, firefighters are still searching for missing people.

Videos posted on social media showed relatives of the victims at the hospital waiting for news of their loved ones, some of whom collapsed in tears.

A man was seen sitting on the ground, slapping his hands and crying, "My father, oh my heart!"

Dozens gathered outside the hospital as they tried to identify the victims being transported in ambulances, some of whom appeared visibly distressed.

One of them, Nasser al-Quraishi, a doctor in his fifties, said he lost five members of his family in the fire.

"A disaster struck us," he told AFP. "We went to the mall to have dinner and escape the power outages at home. An air conditioner on the second floor exploded, and then the fire broke out, and we couldn't escape."

Al-Mayahi declared three days of mourning in the governorate and added, "We will announce the preliminary investigation results to the public within 48 hours." He confirmed that a lawsuit had been filed against the owner of the building and the mall.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered "an immediate investigation into the causes and surrounding circumstances, a thorough technical investigation to uncover any shortcomings, and to take all necessary strict measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents."

Iraq's most senior Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, offered his condolences to the families of the victims.

As temperatures have soared in recent days, fires have broken out in shops and warehouses across Iraq.

Safety standards are often not adhered to in oil-rich Iraq, particularly in the construction and transportation sectors. Iraq also suffers from dilapidated infrastructure due to decades of conflict, frequently leading to fires and other deadly disasters.