Drama in Iraq
A fire in a shopping center is more than 60 dead
Kut’s Hyper Mall opened five days ago. Desperate families continued to look for their missing relatives on Thursday.
The hyper Mall of Kut was ravaged by the flames in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, killing more than 60s.
AFP
A fire, which ravaged in the night a recently open shopping center in eastern Iraq, left more than 60 dead, announced the government on Thursday, while desperate families were still looking for their relatives.
The authorities have ordered an investigation into the fire in the city of Kut, in a country where security standards are often ignored.
At least two people told AFP who had lost five family members, who had gone to the Hyper Mall shopping center to make provisions before dinner.
“The tragic fire cost 61 innocent citizens, most of them died suffocated in bathrooms. Among the victims are 14 charred bodies which have not yet been identified, “said the Ministry of the Interior.
Medical sources had reported more than 50 dead earlier. “We have many unidentified bodies,” said one of these sources.
On Thursday morning, the emergency services were continuing their research to find missing persons, according to an AFP correspondent in Kut.
The fire, whose causes remain unknown, broke out late Wednesday evening, it seems, on the first floor before spreading quickly. The fire was then under control.
Panic at the shopping center
The ambulances continued to transport victims until 4 a.m., filling the beds of a Kut hospital, some 160 kilometers south-east of Baghdad.
An AFP correspondent saw charred bodies in the hospital. The shopping center had opened only five days earlier, he said.
Videos circulating on social networks show crying people, desperately awaiting news from their loved ones. A man, collapsed on the ground, hits his chest screaming in pain: “O my father, O my heart”.
Dozens of people gathered in front of the hospital, checking each ambulance when they arrived. Some collapsed on the ground, overwhelmed by anxiety.
Among them, Nasir al-Qurayi, a doctor in his fifty years, said that he had lost five family members in the fire.
“A disaster struck us. We went to the shopping center to buy food, prepare to eat and escape electricity cuts at home, “he added. “An air conditioner exploded, the fire broke out and we could not escape.”
Reaction of the authorities in Iraq
The governor of Wasit province, Mohammed Al-Miyahi, has declared three days of mourning and indicated that local authorities would initiate prosecution against the owner of the building and the shopping center.
He added that the first results would be communicated within forty-eight hours. “This tragedy is a big shock […] And imposes a rigorous revision of all security measures, “he said.
Prime Minister Mohamed Chia Al-Soudani ordered an “in-depth investigation” in order to identify the “gaps” and to prevent new dramas.
The great Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the highest authority of Shiite Islam in Iraq, presented its condolences to the families of the victims.
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