Over 50 Dead in Devastating Mall Fire in Eastern Iraq's Kut City
'We have more than 50 martyrs, and many bodies remain unidentified,' a medical source told AFP. The tragedy unfolded rapidly, leaving little time for evacuation as the blaze tore through the building.
Officials from the health department in Wasit province reported at least 55 confirmed deaths so far. Rescue teams continue to search for those still missing beneath the debris, fearing the toll could rise further.
The cause of the fire has yet to be officially determined, and local authorities have launched an investigation. The mall, a popular shopping and leisure destination, was reportedly busy at the time of the incident.
Emergency services are working around the clock to aid victims, support grieving families, and identify the deceased. Hospitals in the region are on high alert and treating several individuals who suffered burns and smoke inhalation.
This incident marks one of the deadliest fires in recent years in Iraq, raising serious concerns over safety measures and building regulations in public spaces.
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Daily Tribune
17-07-2025
- Daily Tribune
Over 50 Dead in Devastating Mall Fire in Eastern Iraq's Kut City
More than 50 people lost their lives in a massive fire that engulfed a shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut, medical sources confirmed on Thursday. 'We have more than 50 martyrs, and many bodies remain unidentified,' a medical source told AFP. The tragedy unfolded rapidly, leaving little time for evacuation as the blaze tore through the building. Officials from the health department in Wasit province reported at least 55 confirmed deaths so far. Rescue teams continue to search for those still missing beneath the debris, fearing the toll could rise further. The cause of the fire has yet to be officially determined, and local authorities have launched an investigation. The mall, a popular shopping and leisure destination, was reportedly busy at the time of the incident. Emergency services are working around the clock to aid victims, support grieving families, and identify the deceased. Hospitals in the region are on high alert and treating several individuals who suffered burns and smoke inhalation. This incident marks one of the deadliest fires in recent years in Iraq, raising serious concerns over safety measures and building regulations in public spaces.
Daily Tribune
03-07-2025
- Daily Tribune
Australian man dies from 'extremely rare' bat bite virus
AFP | New South Wales An Australian man has died from an "extremely rare" rabies-like infection transmitted by a bat bite, health officials said Thursday. The man in his 50s was bitten by a bat carrying Australian bat lyssavirus several months ago, the health service in New South Wales said. "We express our sincere condolences to the man's family and friends for their tragic loss," NSW Health said in a statement. "While it is extremely rare to see a case of Australian bat lyssavirus, there is no effective treatment for it." The man from northern New South Wales, who has not been identified, was this week listed as being in a "critical condition" in hospital. Officials said he was treated following the bite and they were investigating to see whether other exposures or factors played a role in his illness. The virus -- a close relative to rabies, which does not exist in Australia -- is transmitted when bat saliva enters the human body through a bite or scratch. First symptoms can take days or years to appear. Early signs of the disease are flu-like -- a headache, fever and fatigue, the health service said. The victim's condition rapidly deteriorates, leading to paralysis, delirium, convulsions and death. There were only three previous cases of human infection by Australian bat lyssavirus since it was first identified in 1996 -- all of them fatal. - 'Coma and death' - People should avoid touching or handling bats, as any bat in Australia could carry lyssavirus, the New South Wales health service said. Only wildlife handlers who are trained, protected, and vaccinated should interact with the flying mammals, it warned. "If you or someone you know is bitten or scratched by a bat, you need to wash the wound thoroughly for 15 minutes right away with soap and water and apply an antiseptic with anti-virus action," it said. "Patients then require treatment with rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine." The virus has been found in species of flying foxes and insect-eating microbats, NSW Health said. The species of bat involved in the latest fatality has not been identified. "Australian bat lyssavirus is very closely related to rabies and will cause death in susceptible people if they become infected and are not treated quickly," said James Gilkerson, infectious diseases expert at the University of Melbourne. The virus was first identified in May 1996 by scientists at the national science agency CSIRO, who examined brain tissue from a flying fox that had been showing "nervous signs" in New South Wales. Later that year, a bat handler in Queensland became ill. "The initial numbness and weakness suffered in her arm progressed to coma and death," the science agency said in an online document on the virus. "Two further cases in Queensland -- a woman in 1998 and an eight year old boy in 2013 -- resulted in death after being bitten or scratched by a bat," it said. There are subtle differences between the lyssavirus in flying foxes and insectivorous bats, the science agency has found. Infected bats can transmit the virus to people, other bats and other mammals.
Daily Tribune
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62 killed in Gaza strikes
Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli forces killed at least 62 people yesterday, including 10 who were waiting for aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. The reported killing of people seeking aid marks the latest in a string of deadly incidents near aid sites in Gaza, where a USand Israeli-backed foundation has largely replaced established humanitarian organisations. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 62 Palestinians had been killed yesterday by Israeli strikes or fire across the Palestinian territory. When asked by AFP for comment, the Israeli military said it was looking into the incidents, and denied its troops fired in one of the locations in central Gaza where rescuers said one aid seeker was killed. Bassal told AFP that six people were killed in southern Gaza near one of the distribution sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and one more in a separate incident in the centre of the territory, where the army denied shooting 'at all'. Another three people were killed by a strike while waiting for aid southwest of Gaza City, Bassal said. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centres while seeking scarce supplies. GHF has denied that fatal shootings have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points. 'Slaughter' Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) yesterday slammed the GHF relief effort, calling it 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'. It noted that in the week of June 8, shortly after GHF opened a distribution site in central Gaza's Netzarim corridor, the MSF field hospital in nearby Deir el-Balah saw a 190 percent increase in bullet wound cases compared to the previous week. Aitor Zabalgogeaskoa, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement that under the way in which the distribution centres currently operate: 'If people arrive early and approach the checkpoints, they get shot.' 'If they arrive on time, but there is an overflow and they jump over the mounds and the wires, they get shot'. 'If they arrive late, they shouldn't be there because it is an 'evacuated zone', they get shot,' he added. Meanwhile, Bassal said that ten people were killed in five separate Israeli strikes near the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, east of which he said 'continuous Israeli artillery shelling' was reported yesterday. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said they shelled an Israeli vehicle east of Khan Yunis yesterday. The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas-ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said they had attacked a group of Israeli soldiers north of Khan Yunis in coordination with the Al-Qassam Brigades. Bassal added that thirty people were killed in six separate strikes in northern Gaza yesterday, including a fisherman who was targeted 'by Israeli warships'. He specified that eight of them were killed 'after an Israeli air strike hit Osama Bin Zaid School, which was housing displaced persons' in northern Gaza.
