Baghdad (Web Desk): A horrific fire at wedding event in hall situated in Northern Iraq killed more than 100 people and injured 150, according to Iraqi state media reports.
The health department in Nineveh put the death toll at 114. Health ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr had earlier put the number of injured at 150.
Iraq’s health ministry said many of the injured were still in unstable condition and the critically injured are being taken to hospitals that specialise in burns.
“There is no final count of the deceased and injured yet,” Al-Jubouri said, according to INA
The fire is reported to have started about 10:45pm (AST) on Tuesday.
The accident happened in the Hamdaniya district of northeast Nineveh governorate, when fireworks, candles, and other materials used during the wedding celebration was set off, the Iraqi Civil Defence said.
Iraq’s civil defence further said that initial reports indicated that fireworks used during the celebration may have been the cause of the fire. “Preliminary information indicates that fireworks were used during a wedding, which triggered a fire in the hall,” civil defence authorities said in a statement early on Wednesday.
The danger was compounded by the “release of toxic gases linked to the combustion of the panels”, which contained plastic.
“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 fire breaks out,” the Civil Defence statement added.
Ambulances and medical crews were dispatched to the site by federal Iraqi authorities and authorities in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Hamdaniyah, where the fire incident happen, is located outside of the northern city of Mosul, some 400 km northwest of the capital Baghdad.
Iraq’s Ministry of Health said that “medical aid trucks” have been dispatched to Nineveh from Baghdad and other provinces.
