On Wednesday morning, the Red Crescent stated that at least 450 people have died or been injured after the wedding fire, the BBC reports. Local authorities have confirmed 114 deaths, but fear the number will rise further. The injuries must be critical for at least 50 of the injured. It was first reported that the bride and groom were among the dead. Just after 7pm on Wednesday, however, several news agencies write that they must have survived. The bride and groom are said to have been dancing when the explosive fire started. There were around a thousand people in the assembly hall when the fire broke out. The party venue is completely burnt out. Steel has melted and is distorted. Large parts of the building collapsed in the fire. Rescuers have been digging in the ruins for survivors. – We saw the pulsating fire coming out of the hall. Those who made it, got out, while others were stuck. People who got out are also badly injured, says Imad Yohana, who was present at the wedding to Reuters. The party venue in Hamdaniya is completely burnt out. Photo: KHALID AL-MOUSILY / Reuters / NTB Fireworks – We couldn’t see anything. We suffocated and had no idea how to get out, says 17-year-old Waad to the AFP news agency. Nine people who worked at the party venue have been arrested, says Saad Maan in the Ministry of the Interior. He says that the cause of the big fire was the use of fireworks indoors, illegal and flammable materials and poor safety measures. The building was engulfed in flames within a few minutes. A video from Reuters shows firefighters going through charred ruins in search of survivors. The wedding in Iraq ended in tragedy. Photo: Farid Abdulwahed / AP Orders an investigation – We are doing everything we can to help those affected by this tragic accident, Ministry of Health spokesman Saif al-Badr is quoted as saying by the state-run news agency INA. Prime Minister Shia al-Suadni has ordered an investigation into the fire, and has asked the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health to assist in the work after the accident, a statement from his office said. Shia al-Suadni has ordered three days of national mourning in Iraq. Was IS-controlled Al-Hamdaniya district is located in Nineveh province in northern Iraq. The area has a Christian majority population and is located just outside the city of Mosul, just over 33 miles north-west of Baghdad. Hamdaniya was for a period in an IS-controlled area, but was liberated after the fighting in Mosul in 2017. Many of the residents who had fled then returned. Both federal Iraqi authorities and Kurdish authorities sent ambulances and health workers. Iraqi President Mohammed al-Sudani has declared national mourning for the next three days.
ttn-69
Over 100 died in wedding fire in Iraq – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
