At least 100 people are dead and another 150 are injured after a fire ripped through a wedding hall in the Iraqi city of Qaraqosh.
According to witnesses, the fire erupted as the bride and groom started to slow dance.
“Guests at the wedding [said] that the blaze began when fireworks were set off ahead of the newlywed couple’s slow dance – and footage showed flaming debris falling from the ceiling as the bride and groom clung to each other on the dancefloor,” as reported by The Independent.
New video shows moment fire breaks out at wedding in Iraq, killing at least 114 people. Death toll expected to rise pic.twitter.com/hKyOdQGTfJ
— The4plug (@The4plug) September 27, 2023
“They lit up fireworks. It hit the ceiling, which caught fire. The entire hall was on fire in seconds,” one injured witness said.
“We couldn’t see anything We were suffocating. We didn’t know how to get out,” another witness, Rania Waad, told AFP.
“I thought there had been an explosion. The flames were devouring the whole hall. When I went back in, I saw the charred bodies of three children,” kitchen worker Martin Idriss added.
The newlyweds were originally suspected to be among the dead, but some witnesses claimed they escaped through the kitchen.
CNN later confirmed via the father of the groom that both are alive and receiving treatment for their injuries at the hospital.
“I hold the owner of the hall responsible for what happened at the party because there are no extinguishers or safety measures in the hall,” the father said.
“I blame the whole system; we didn’t learn from the tragic ferry accident a few years ago. We still neglect all safety and security measures due to greed and avarice, and because of this, more than 100 lives were taken while they were celebrating,” wedding attendee Alex Najeeb Benjamin told The Washington Post.
Another video of a fire in a wedding hall in Iraq pic.twitter.com/Tz2S6YX7nN
— janetking (@janetking851241) September 27, 2023
Civil defense officials reportedly told the media that the wedding hall’s exterior contained illegal and “highly flammable, low-cost” materials that “collapse within minutes.”
“The hall did not meet safety criteria. Because of the fireworks the ceiling collapsed on the people in the hall. Justice will be served to those who were negligent,” Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari told reporters on Wednesday.
The Independent notes that “[s]imilar panels have been blamed in several previous fires in Iraq, most recently in July 2021, when a blaze at a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah killed between 60 to 92 people.”
Not everybody necessarily blames the venue for what happened.
“It could be a mistake by the event organizers or venue hosts, or maybe a technical error. It was a disaster in every sense of the word,” Father Rudi Saffar Khoury, a priest at the wedding, said.
As of Wednesday morning police and firefighters were still digging through the rummage of the wedding hall, according to AFP. Meanwhile, at a nearby hospital, reporters spotted “people gathering to donate blood” and “black body bags … being loaded onto a refrigerated truck.”
“There are hundreds of people injured. We are in need of blood. This tragedy hurt us more than ISIS. At least when ISIS came we could escape, but now a wedding became a graveyard for us,” translator Nader Salm said to CNN.
Of the injured, the majority reportedly sustained extensive burn injuries.
VIDEO: No Fewer Than 133 Killed, Over 150 Injured As Fire Engulfs Wedding Party In Iraq
A tragic incident occurred in the northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, where a fire broke out during a wedding at an event hall, resulting in a devastating toll.
At least 133 people lost their… pic.twitter.com/V1YJpqh0T1
— Intel Region (@IntelRegion) September 27, 2023
Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani has for his part reportedly ordered his cabinet to assist those injured/hurt by the fire.
“The Iraqi leader has been in touch with the Nineveh governor by telephone about the incident and ordered a full mobilization to aid the victims,” according to CNN.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq meanwhile expressed its condolences in a Twitter statement, referring to what happened as “an immense tragedy.”
“Shocked and pained by the horrible loss of life and injuries in the fire in Ninewa’s Hamdaniya. An immense tragedy. Our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones. We wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the organization wrote.
Al-Sudani has declared three days of national mourning and also ordered “intensified periodic inspections” of venues nationwide to “ensure that safety measures are followed” and to “identify any non-compliant buildings.”
A fire at a wedding hall in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province killed at least 100 people, officials said Wednesday, with video footage showing how the celebration turned into a raging inferno when fireworks inside the hall set the ceiling ablaze. https://t.co/mjfqRnIW0d pic.twitter.com/NLz61P1tQj
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 27, 2023
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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