More than a hundred people were killed and 150 injured in a fire during a wedding party in the Hamdaniya district of Iraq’s Nineveh province, where civil defense searched for survivors in the charred skeleton of a structure until the early hours of Wednesday.
Nineveh Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaq told Reuters another 113 people had been shown dead, and state media put the death toll at at least a hundred dead and 150 wounded.
The fire swept through a large event corridor in the northeastern region after chimneys were lit during the celebration, the local civil defense said, according to state media.
“We saw the chimney burst and come out of the hallway. Those who made it got out and those who didn’t got trapped. Even those who managed to get out were devastated,” said Imad Yohana, 34. old man who escaped. Daemons.
Video from a Reuters correspondent at the scene showed firefighters charred debris from the building, illuminating the smoking ruins.
According to initial information, the construction was made of highly flammable building materials, which contributed to its immediate collapse, state media said.
According to official statements, ambulances and medical services were sent to the scene through the Iraqi federal government and the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said the building caught fire at around 22:45 local time (19:45 GMT) and that many people were there at the time of the incident.