Fire in Iraqi shopping centre kills at least 69
Iraq
has left at least 69 people dead and 11 others missing, the city's health authorities and police said on Thursday.
The five-storey shopping centre had only opened only a week ago.
Civil defence teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, Iraq's Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
A cleaning operation starts after a fire tore through a newly opened shopping centre overnight in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut. Photograph: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
Reuters footage of the aftermath of the overnight fire showed the blackened exterior of Corniche Hypermarket building, with rescue teams and security forces still at the site.
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Firefighters sprayed water on the blazing building overnight and people climbing from the roof with the help of rescue teams.
Provincial governor Mohammed al-Mayyeh declared three days of mourning. Associated Press reported he said the cause of the fire is under investigation but that legal cases were filed against the building owner and shopping centre owner. He did not specify what the charges were.
'We assure the families of the innocent victims that we will not be lenient with those who were directly or indirectly responsible for this incident,' he said.
'We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris,' city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters.
Iraqi prime minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he had directed the interior minister to go to the site of the fire to investigate.
A lack of safety measures in Iraq has led to large death tolls in fires. In 2023, more than 100 people were killed after a fire swept through a crowded wedding hall in a northern Iraqi town. – Reuters
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Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
One Night in Dublin ... out with the fire brigade: ‘I didn't recognise my former colleague until he was pronounced dead'
It is just past midnight on Sunday morning. The air is thick with smoke; the smell is tarry and metallic. A burnt-out car lies on the green of a Finglas housing estate on the northside of Dublin . Rubber tyre streaks are imprinted on Barry Road, like brush strokes of an abstract artist. The Dublin Fire Brigade are deft and thorough, pumping water over the burnt-out husk. The fire is extinguished within minutes. Trevor Hunt, a station officer with the fire brigade, sits back into his vehicle and listens to his personal radio device. READ MORE 'That's the vehicle being reported as stolen to the gardaí there,' he says. The car had been robbed, driven by joyriders, set alight and the fire extinguished all before its owner had a chance to report it missing. It shows the speed and intensity at which the fire brigade operate. Back at the headquarters of Dublin Fire Brigade's Tara Street fire station in the city centre, across the road from Trinity College Dublin, firefighters are piled in around a long table. There's tea, biscuits and plenty of banter. It is a world away from the shell of a car on Barry Road. Dublin firefighters extinguish a burnt-out car on Barry Road in Finglas on the northside of Dublin. Photograph: Barry Cronin Siobhan Talbot, a sub officer who has been with the fire brigade for 28 years, enjoys her role as a paramedic fire fighter. 'I love the diversity of the job, the fact that every day is different,' she says. It's like having a second family, she says. The fire brigade has been encouraging more women to apply for roles in a service traditionally associated with men. Siobhan Talbot, a sub officer who has been with Dublin Fire Brigade for 28 years, in the locker room at Tara Street fire station. Photograph: Barry Cronin 'I suppose it's a hard job for a woman, but it's also a hard job for a man. Not only do you have to be strong physically, but you need to be strong mentally,' she says. The mental toll is 'a hard one to quantify because everybody is different', says acting district officer Colm Murphy. 'It does take a toll. It does add up. It is cumulative. But we have great staff support.' There is 'great psychological counselling support' in the form of the station's critical incident stress management system, Murphy says. But he also emphasises the importance of peer to peer support in the service. 'We've got the jokers, the messers, the person you can talk to quietly in the locker room: you've got a shoulder somewhere, and it's important that you acknowledge that,' he says. It is essential to start the conversation as soon as you leave a call-out, he says. 'I say to make sure that on your way back from an incident to start discussing it, even before you get back to station,' says Murphy. 'We call it a 'diffusal'. You might break the ice for people or identify that one of the team isn't having an easy a time as the rest. That's how we deal with it.' How many life or death situations do firefighters deal with? 'On average most operatives during a 30-year career will deal with between 2,000 and 2,500 very difficult incidents involving life-altering or life-ending situations,' he says. Situations where someone they are helping reminds them of their own personal situation can be difficult, says Talbot.'So, to see somebody else who is in distress, whether it's young people or old people dying and you have somebody similar at home – that's the hard part,' she says. Another challenging aspect of the work can be arriving at a scene where you know the person affected. Colm Murphy (centre), Dublin Fire Brigade acting district officer, and Trevor Hunt, station officer, at Tara Street fire station in Dublin city centre. Photograph: Barry Cronin 'I have been called to one or two of my colleagues over the years and one of them I didn't recognise him until I had a chance to take it in and look at him and that was after he had been pronounced dead,' says Murphy. 'I call it 'the blinkers'; I have a job to do. While I am being the practitioner, the rescuer, I don't see the person; I don't have an emotional attachment. That's the way I deal with it. It's the aftermath when I get to think about it or I have to break news to somebody. That can be very difficult when you know them.' On November 23rd, 2023, crews from Tara Street station attended the scene of the Parnell Street stabbing of three schoolchildren and their carer, and the subsequent riot and arson attacks on O'Connell Street. The fire engine that was used to respond to the stabbing was ransacked hours later in the riot. The officers are tight-lipped on what happened that night; several will be witnesses when criminal cases come before the courts. The locker room at Tara Street fire station. Photograph: Barry Cronin In the control room where the phone call about the Parnell Street stabbing was received that November sits control room operative Glenn Brennan. 'We take calls for Dublin, the whole of Leinster, Cavan and Monaghan so it's about 54 per cent of the population of the Republic that we cover for fire calls,' he says. The fire brigadealso provides paramedical services in conjunction with the National Ambulance Service for Dublin. They are also responsible for river rescues on the Liffey. When an emergency call comes in, the fire brigade needs an address and a phone number; without both, they cannot send help and cannot ring back if they get cut off. Dublin Fire Brigade at a fire in a derelict house on Brennanstown Road in Carrickmines, south Dublin. Photograph: Barry Cronin While an Eircode easily identifying a specific address is ideal, callers are often unable to provide precise details because they are 'panicking'. In those circumstances, the fire brigade operators work backwards. 'With the rurals, if they can't give the address, we want the townland. We will always get the family name of the people down the country because the fire crew are local, so they'd know the 'Smiths of Ballyduff' or something,' he says. Brennan says they will often seek details of nearby landmarks such as the nearest GAA club or nearest pub 'and we will get them as close as we can'. Luke Reyner, a fellow control room operative, says calls can be difficult. 'A natural part of life is passing away and a good number of our calls can be apparent deaths,' he says. 'I have had back-to-back scenarios where an older person has passed away in the end stages of their life and the very next call a child born on the phone.' 'We see people in and we see people out,' says Reyner, summing up their role. Trevor Hunt, station officer, in the control room at Tara Street fire station in Dublin city centre. Photograph: Barry Cronin The calendar can dictate the pattern of call-outs for the fire brigade. Halloween is 'a two-month event starting from September', says Trevor Hunt. 'You also see more chimney fires in the winter obviously. In the summer there would be more rescue swimming operations and we also deal with mental health crises in the river Liffey,' he says. Beyond these events, there are 'no real trends that I can point to – it's just always busy'. On any given night, 20 per cent of callouts could be fire-related and 80 per cent involve paramedics being called out, Hunt says. He notes the sad statistic that most fire deaths in Ireland are older people, with the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, a section of the Department of Housing, reporting that 59 per cent of people who died in a fire in 2019-2023 were over the age of 65. 'The majority of fire deaths in Ireland are over 50s. I suppose they might have older electronics – for example, electric blankets have to be replaced every 10 years,' says Hunt. 'But all kinds of electrical items can cause a fire: electric heaters, phone chargers, frayed cables, any electrical chargers really. A laptop charging on a duvet can overheat and cause a fire, for example.' Dublin Fire Brigade engine on a callout in Carrickmines, south Dublin. Photograph: Barry Cronin The National Transport Authority has banned escooters on public transit due to safety concerns associated with lithium-ion batteries. 'In terms of the escooters, the reputable brands wouldn't be fire starters. As long as something has the CE mark on it' – meaning that the device complies with European safety standards – 'you should be fine if charged correctly', he says. 'And never charge indoors,' he says. The fire brigade has identified other problems with these vehicles, however. A worrying issue is the growing number of people involved in escooter and electric bike incidents who were not wearing helmets or were just wearing bicycle helmets. Motorcycle helmets should be worn given the speed they can travel at on these vehicles. 'They are not going at bike or scooter speeds; they are going over 35km per hour and we are seeing a lot of traumatic head injuries as a result,' says David Hoban, a control room operator. Colm Murphy, Dublin Fire Brigade acting district officer, in Tara Street fire station. Photograph: Barry Cronin Mr Murphy says: 'Cars, escooters, and ebikes are travelling faster and faster and quieter and quieter and that's certainly creating an issue.' He describes these new forms of transport as 'toys essentially'. The speeds at which they travel means they are being used in petty crime more and more. This leads to 'more trauma, more heartbreak, more property and infrastructural damage where there's arson involved', says Murphy. Dublin Fire Brigade member Tony Ward. Photograph: Barry Cronin 'Is it a trend?' he asks. 'I'd hate to think that it's a trend that is going to increase but life and the city have changed.' Next in the 'One Night in Dublin' series: Conor Pope spends a night with bouncers at Copper Face Jacks – on Monday
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
‘Their infectious energy, their open smiles': Murder of mother and children has shaken Co Fermanagh community, service hears
Children dressed in red and green GAA jerseys lined a street with heads bowed as three hearses drove slowly past them in a Co Fermanagh village on Wednesday morning. One girl wept silently as coffins carrying the remains of Vanessa Whyte (45) and her children, James Rutledge (14) and daughter, Sara Rutledge (13) arrived at the gates of St Mary's Church in Maguiresbridge. A female PSNI officer kept her hand raised in a salute as the hearses approached. Birdsong was the only sound. READ MORE Hundreds of people thronged the Boyhill Road beside the village church in the hour before the service of removal. Vanessa Whyte, her son James and daughter Sara died in the Drummeer Road in Maguiresbridge last week. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire It was exactly a week to the day that Ms Whyte, originally from Co Clare, and her children were shot dead in their family home, in what is being treated as suspected murder. The only suspect, Ian Rutledge (43) , who was married to Ms Whyte and the father of her children, died in hospital on Monday evening. It is an 'unspeakable loss' that has 'pierced the hearts' of 'their family, parish and country', Fr Raymond Donnelly told mourners inside St Mary's. The priest said they had come together to pay their respects 'under a weight of grief that words could not fully express'. Outside, a sea of green and red – the colours of St Mary's Maguiresbridge GFC and St Patrick's Lisbellaw hurling club of which the family were members – wound their way around the church. James was the St Mary's under-14 captain this year. The coffins of murder victims Vanessa Whyte and her children Sara and James Rutledge are carried from St Mary's Church in Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh, following a service of removal. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire One man hugged his young pony-tailed daughter as she broke down in tears. Women wearing pink florals and polka dot dresses – those attending were asked to wear 'bright and cheerful clothing' – embraced under a grey sky. Cobalt blue kits of Lisbellaw football club and the neon green tops of Maguiresbridge running club were also among the huge crowd. Mourners fell silent as Fr Donnelly spoke of how the lives of Vanessa and her children were taken 'in such an unspeakable way'. Their loss had 'shaken the community to its core' and was 'more than any heart should bear'. 'We are left shocked, grieving, heartbroken, searching for meaning: grappling with questions too deep for words,' he said. Ms Whyte was a vet at Stormont's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) at the time of her death. She previously worked at a Co Fermanagh practice, Lakeland Vets in Derrygonnelly, and its principal vet, Innes Redmond, was among those who took part in the service. 'Vanessa was a woman full of kindness and warmth, a friend to so many here,' Fr Donnelly said in his homily. 'And her children, so young, so vibrant, so full of promise. 'Their laughter rang through school corridors, through playing fields, especially on the GAA pitch, where they thrived with passion and joy. 'That zest for life, their infectious energy, their open smiles. Words fail us..' James and Sara attended Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, and its principal, Elizabeth Armstrong, delivered a reading at the beginning of the service. Classmates attended in their school uniform along with children from the siblings' former school, Maguiresbridge Primary, and in a direct address, Fr Donnelly said they should know that 'it is okay to feel confused, angry, sad and to cry'. He urged them to 'please speak to someone'. 'Speak to your parents, to your teachers, to your clergy. Grief is not something to carry alone. It is a journey we make together,' he said. 'To all involved in sport – to coaches, team-mates, mentors – thank you for the joy you helped nurture in these children. 'Their bright spirits will remain a part of every game played in their memory.' First Minister Michelle O'Neill , former first minister Arlene Foster , Fermanagh South Tyrone MP Pat Cullen, Environment Minister Andrew Muir and Brian McAvoy from Ulster GAA were among those present. As a guard of honour formed outside the church towards the service's close, strains of Nearer My God to Thee grew louder and the crowd swelled to walk behind the three coffins. Covered in fresh flowers – white roses on Ms Whyte's and vibrant red and yellow displays on her children's – the coffins were carried side by side. Requiem mass will be held in Ms Whyte's native Barefield, Co Clare at noon this Saturday, followed by burial in Templemaley Cemetery.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Irish Times
Murder of mother and children has shaken Co Fermanagh community to its core, service told
The murder of a mother and her two children in Co Fermanagh has shaken the community 'to its core', mourners have heard. A service of removal has taken place in Maguiresbridge for Vanessa Whyte and her children James Rutledge (14), and Sara Rutledge (13), ahead of their funeral in Co Clare on Saturday. The three family members died in a shooting incident at a property in Drummeer Road in the Co Fermanagh village a week ago. Agricultural contractor Ian Rutledge (43), who died on Monday, is understood to be the only suspect in the shooting of his family. READ MORE Last week, police said a triple murder and attempted suicide was a line of inquiry. Mourners gathered at St Mary's Church in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday morning, with several dressed in bright colours following a request from the family. Large crowds, including from local GAA clubs, lined the streets outside the church in advance of the service. Among those who attended the service were Northern Ireland's first minister Michelle O'Neill, former first minister Baroness Arlene Foster, environment minister Andrew Muir and Sinn Féin MP Pat Cullen. Shortly after 11am the three coffins arrived and were brought to the front of the church as the hymn Abide By Me was sung. During the service, a reading was delivered by Elizabeth Armstrong, principal of Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, where Sara and James were pupils. In his homily, Father Raymond Donnelly said people had gathered in a church 'filled with grief'. He added: 'There is a heaviness in the air, a silence within our hearts, that speaks volumes. 'The tragedy we have endured has shaken this community, and our country, to its core. 'We are left shocked, grieving, heartbroken, searching for meaning, grappling with questions too deep for words.' He added: 'The loss of Vanessa and her two beautiful children, James and Sara – lives taken in such an unspeakable way – is more than any heart should bear. 'A woman full of kindness and warmth, a friend to so many here. 'And her children, so young, so vibrant, so full of promise. 'Their laughter rang through school corridors, through playing fields, especially on the GAA pitch, where they thrived with passion and joy. 'That zest for life, their infectious energy, their open smiles. 'Words fail us. And when words fail, we turn to the word of God.' The priest told the grieving family members 'you are not alone'. He added: 'We stand with you. 'We hold you in prayer and embrace. We do not have answers, but we offer presence. We offer prayer. We offer love. 'To the classmates of Sara and James and to all the friends, know that it is OK to feel confused, angry, sad and to cry. 'Please speak to someone. Speak to your parents, to your teachers, to your clergy.' Fr Donnelly told mourners that grief is 'not something to carry alone'. He added: 'It is a journey we make together. 'To all involved in sport – to coaches, teammates, mentors – thank you for the joy you helped nurture in these children. 'Their bright spirits will remain a part of every game played in their memory. 'And we take a moment to thank all first responders and medics. Thank you for your service under unimaginable circumstances. 'Thank you to all who have come forward with meals, hugs, tears, prayers, practical and pastoral support or a silent presence. 'You remind us that light still flickers, even on the darkest of days.' Candles were then lit in memory of the three victims. The service finished with the singing of the hymn Nearer My God to Thee as the coffins left the church. The three wooden coffins were then carried side by side along the main road in the village as hundreds followed and many more lined the street. The bodies will be taken to Barefield in Co Clare, where Ms Whyte was originally from, ahead of their funeral Mass on Saturday. The three will then be buried together in Templemaley Cemetery. - PA
