Latest news with #Kut
Asharq Al-Awsat
12 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire
Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday. The blaze broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut. After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said "there was clear negligence among several officials and employees" in Kut, located around 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defense in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice. The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials "over the violations that led to the fire" at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality. Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change. The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-story building was rapidly engulfed in flames. Several people told AFP they lost family members -- and in some cases whole families -- who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.
Khaleej Times
15 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Iraq mall fire: 6 local officials detained, 17 employees suspended over deadly blaze
Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday. The blaze, which broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut, is the latest fatal disaster in a country where safety regulations are often ignored. After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said "there was clear negligence among several officials and employees" in Kut, located around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad. It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defence in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice. The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials "over the violations that led to the fire" at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality. Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change. Safety standards in Iraq's construction sector are often ignored, and the country — its infrastructure weakened by decades of conflict — frequently experiences fatal fires and accidents. Fires increase during the blistering summer as temperatures approach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-storey building was rapidly engulfed in flames. Several people told AFP they lost family members — and in some cases whole families — who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.
Al Arabiya
15 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Six officials detained over deadly mall fire in Iraq
Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday. The blaze, which broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut, is the latest fatal disaster in a country where safety regulations are often ignored. After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said 'there was clear negligence among several officials and employees' in Kut, located around 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad. It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defense in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice. The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials 'over the violations that led to the fire' at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality. Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change. Safety standards in Iraq's construction sector are often ignored, and the country -- its infrastructure weakened by decades of conflict -- frequently experiences fatal fires and accidents. Fires increase during the blistering summer as temperatures approach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-story building was rapidly engulfed in flames. Several people told AFP they lost family members -- and in some cases whole families -- who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.
Arab News
16 hours ago
- Arab News
Six local officials detained over Iraq deadly mall fire
BAGHDAD: Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday. The blaze, which broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut, is the latest fatal disaster in a country where safety regulations are often ignored. After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said 'there was clear negligence among several officials and employees' in Kut, located around 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad. It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defense in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice. The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials 'over the violations that led to the fire' at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality. Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change. Safety standards in Iraq's construction sector are often ignored, and the country — its infrastructure weakened by decades of conflict — frequently experiences fatal fires and accidents. Fires increase during the blistering summer as temperatures approach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-story building was rapidly engulfed in flames. Several people told AFP they lost family members — and in some cases whole families — who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Officials try to identify 18 bodies in deadly Iraq shopping mall fire
BAGHDAD — Officials struggled Friday to identify more than a dozen bodies pulled from a deadly shopping mall fire in Iraq, amid ongoing investigations into what caused the blaze. An Iraqi medical official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment said the final death toll was 63, including 18 bodies that could not be identified due to the severity of the burns and would undergo DNA testing. The Corniche Hypermarket mall in the town of Kut in Wasit province, a five-story building containing restaurants, shops and a supermarket, had opened just days before the blaze, which officials said broke out late Wednesday on the second floor in an area selling perfume and cosmetics. Civil defense crews were able to rescue 45 people from the burning building. Officials said that most of those who died were trapped on the upper floors. While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, officials blamed lack of safety standards in the building for the scale of the tragedy. Provincial Gov. Mohammed al-Miyahi has said that the building owner did not implement fire safety measures and had not applied for required permits. The provincial council of Wasit on Thursday voted to form committees to carry out building safety inspections and to suspend the director of Kut municipality and the director of occupational safety until investigations into the fire are complete. Al-Miyahi said Thursday that legal complaints had been filed against the building owner and shopping center owner, who could not be reached for comment. The governor said in a press conference that the son of the shopping center owner and other members of his family were among the victims in the blaze. Poor building standards have often contributed to tragic fires in Iraq. In July 2021, a blaze at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah that killed between 60 to 92 people was determined to have been fueled by highly flammable, low-cost type of 'sandwich panel' cladding that is illegal in Iraq. 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. Qassim Abdul-zahra, The Associated Press
