Khaled Al-Mousili / Reuters
An emergency worker walks over rubble at the site after a deadly fire at a wedding party in Iraq’s Nineveh Province, on September 27.
CNN
—
A fire that broke out at a wedding in northern Iraq killed at least 100 people and injured 150 others, the official Iraqi News Agency reported, citing local authorities.
The Iraqi Civil Defense said that the disaster that occurred in the Al-Hamdaniya area, northeast of Nineveh Governorate, was caused by fireworks, candles and other materials used during the wedding ceremony.
Nineveh Governor Najm al-Jubouri told the official Iraqi News Agency that the injured were transferred to hospitals in Nineveh and the Kurdistan region.
Al-Jubouri said, according to the Iraqi News Agency, that “there is still no final count of the dead and wounded.”
Videos from the scene show thick smoke rising from Al Haitham Wedding Hall as crowds and ambulances gather outside.
One of the wedding guests told local media that the bride and groom were fine but devastated.
Khaled Al-Mousili / Reuters
People gather outside the hospital after the deadly fire.
“The bride and groom are fine. I was just with them, but their condition is devastating because of what happened to the people here,” the guest told the private Iraqi Al-Oula channel.
The Iraqi News Agency reported that the wedding hall where the fire broke out was covered with highly flammable Ecobond panels, which violated the requirements of safety instructions.
The Civil Defense statement said, “The fire led to the collapse of parts of the hall as a result of the use of highly flammable, low-cost building materials that collapse within minutes when the fire breaks out.”
Khaled Al-Mousili / Reuters
Iraqi officials walk at the site of a fire that engulfed a wedding party.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani assigned his government to help those affected by the fire, according to a statement issued by his office.
The Iraqi leader was in contact with the governor of Nineveh by phone about the incident and ordered full mobilization to assist the victims, according to his office and the Iraqi National Agency.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq expressed its condolences to the family members of those killed and wounded on Tuesday, describing the incident as a “tremendous tragedy.”
“I am shocked and hurt by the terrible loss of life and injuries in the fire,” the mission said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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