Dozens killed in Iraq market fire as governor declares three days of mourning
Videos circulating on social media on Thursday showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in the city of al-Kut overnight as firefighters tried to contain the blaze.
Reuters could not independently verify the videos.
The blaze broke out late on Wednesday, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the mall.
Iraq's interior ministry said that at least 61 people had been killed in the fire.
"The tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them, 14 charred bodies yet to be identified," the ministry said in a statement.
Civil defence teams were able to rescue more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, the statement said.
The mall, which had opened only a week earlier, was in a five-story building that also contained a restaurant and supermarket.
In a statement, the province's governor, Mohammed al-Mayyeh, declared three days of mourning.
He said the cause of the fire was still under investigation, but authorities had filed legal cases against the owners of the building and the mall. He did not specify the charges.
"We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall."
The results of the preliminary investigation will be released within 48 hours, Mr al-Mayyeh said.
The office of Iraq's prime minister, Mohammed S Al-Sudani, also said in a statement on Thursday that Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al-Shammari had been directed to visit the site of the blaze, and an immediate investigation would be launched into its causes.
"He also called for a thorough technical investigation to identify any shortcomings and to take all necessary strict measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents," the statement said.
"As part of his ongoing follow-up on the repercussions of this unfortunate incident, the prime minister ordered the dispatch of a fully equipped medical team to support efforts in treating and caring for the injured.
"Prime Minister Al-Sudani expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and his heartfelt solidarity with them, praying to Almighty God to grant them patience and solace."
Ambulances transported victims to hospitals until 4am local time on Thursday, filling the wards of a hospital in Kut, about 160 kilometres south-east of Baghdad.
An AFP correspondent reported seeing charred bodies at the hospital.
The fire has since been contained, but firefighters were continuing to search for missing victims.
Dozens of people gathered in front of the hospital, checking ambulances as they arrived, and some collapsed on the floor in agony.
One of them, Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, told the AFP news agency that he lost five family members in the fire.
"A disaster has befallen us," he told AFP.
"We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home.
Poor building standards have often contributed to tragic fires in Iraq. In July 2021, a blaze at a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah that killed between 60 to 92 people was determined to have been fuelled by highly flammable, low-cost "sandwich panel" cladding that is illegal in the country.
In 2023, more than 100 people died in a fire at a wedding hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.
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