At least 60 people were killed and injured in a fire that swept the shopping center in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut, the state media said on Thursday.
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“The number of victims has reached about 50 people, martyrs and injured, in a tragic fire in the main shopping center,” said Governor Wasit Mohammed al-Miyahi, Ina reported, AFP reported.
Videos published on the social media showed that upset relatives are waiting for news in the hospital.
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At least two people said AFP that they had lost five relatives who went to the newly opened Hyper Mall for shopping and dinner.
“The tragic fire required the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom were suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 bodies that have not yet been identified,” the Ministry of the Interior said.
The Governor of the Wasit province Mohammed al-Miyahi told the official Ina agency that victims include men, women and children.
Civil defense teams saved more than 45 people who were imprisoned in a five -storey building that includes a restaurant and a supermarket, said the Ministry of the Interior.
The fire began late Wednesday and reportedly came from the first floor and then spread quickly throughout the building.
While the exact cause remains unclear, one survivors said AFP that the air conditioning exploded.
The ambulance continued to transport the victims to hospitals until 4:00, while medical facilities in Kut are about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, amazed by the number of victims.
“We couldn’t escape”
One of them, Nasir al-Quraishi, at the age of 50, said he lost five family members on fire. “The disaster hit us,” AFP said. “We went to the mall to have some food, ate dinner, and unavised pieces of energy at home.
“On the second floor, air conditioning exploded and then a fire broke out – and we couldn’t escape.”
Governor Miyahi declared three days of sadness and said that local authorities would file a lawsuit against the shopping center owner and building suppliers.
“The tragedy is the main shock … and requires a serious review of all security measures,” he said.
In September 2023, the fire killed at least 100 people when he ruined the crowded Iraq’s wedding hall, which memorized the panivated decline for east.
In July 2021, more than 60 people killed the fire in the Unity of Covid in the hospital in South Iraq.
(Tagstotranslate) Fire
