At least 61 people have died after a huge fire ripped through a shopping mall in Iraq, with a survivor saying the inferno began after an air conditioning unit exploded.
Officials have launched an investigation into the blaze at the newly-opened six-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall in the city of Kut, where men, women and children were said to be shopping last night.
The blaze reportedly began on the first floor of the building before tearing through the entire block, with horrifying video showing the block engulfed by flames and smoke.
Chilling pictures of the aftermath this morning show the building completely blackened and burned out, with firefighters still at the scene.
Iraq’s interior ministry said in a statement: ‘The tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 charred bodies yet to be identified.’
Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told the official INA news agency the victims include men, women and children.
A medical source in Kut told AFP there were ‘many unidentified bodies’. Rescuers were still searching through the decimated building for the missing this morning.
Officials have launched an investigation into the blaze at the newly-opened six-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall in the city of Kut
Chilling pictures of the aftermath this morning show the building completely blackened and burned out, with firefighters still at the scene
Military personnel sit in a vehicle near the wreckage of the shopping centre after a massive overnight fire killed dozens
Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who were trapped inside the five-storey building, which includes a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry said.
The blaze broke out late Wednesday, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the building.
It is just the latest disaster in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected.
The cause of last night’s tragedy was not immediately known, but one survivor said that an air conditioner had exploded.
Ambulances were still ferrying casualties to hospitals as late as 4:00 am, with wards in Kut – around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad – overwhelmed.
An AFP correspondent said the mall had only opened five days earlier and reported seeing charred bodies at the province’s forensic department.
Though the fire was eventually contained, firefighters continued searching for missing victims.
Videos posted on social media showed distraught relatives waiting at the hospital for news, some collapsing in grief.
One man sat on the ground, pounding his chest and crying out, ‘Oh my father, oh my heart’.
Dozens of people gathered outside the hospital checking ambulances as they arrived, some of them overcome with emotion.
One of them, Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, said he lost five family members in the fire.
‘A disaster has befallen us,’ he told AFP. ‘We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home.
‘An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted – and we couldn’t escape.’
Governor Miyahi declared three days of mourning and said local authorities would file a lawsuit against the mall’s owner and the building contractor.
‘The tragedy is a major shock… and requires a serious review of all safety measures,’ he said.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered a ‘thorough probe’ into the fire to identify ‘shortcomings’ and prevent further incidents.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam’s highest authority in Iraq, offered condolences to the victims’ families.
Safety standards in Iraq’s construction sector are often disregarded, and the country, whose infrastructure is in disrepair after decades of conflict, is often the scene of fatal fires and accidents.
Fires increase during the blistering summer as temperatures approach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
In September 2023, a fire killed at least 100 people when it ripped through a crowded Iraqi wedding hall, sparking a panicked stampede for the exits.
In July 2021, a fire in the Covid unit of a hospital in southern Iraq killed more than 60 people.
