ALBAWABA- At least 70 people have been confirmed dead after a massive fire tore through a newly opened shopping mall in the city of Kut, Wasit Governorate, in eastern Iraq. Local officials warn the death toll may continue to rise as search and rescue operations proceed.
The blaze erupted late Wednesday night at the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall, which had opened just a week earlier. Civil defense teams were immediately mobilized, with Wasit Governor Mohammed al-Miyahi personally overseeing efforts to rescue those trapped inside the building.
Videos circulating on social media show firefighters pulling people from the roof, while ambulances were seen transporting victims to hospitals as late as 4:00 a.m. local time. Despite firefighters bringing the flames under control, many remain unaccounted for.
“This is a tragedy and a catastrophe that has struck us,” Governor al-Miyahi said in a statement, adding that legal proceedings will be initiated against the mall’s owner. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
According to Iraq’s Interior Ministry, 70 people, many of whom reportedly suffocated in bathrooms, lost their lives in the inferno. Fourteen charred bodies remain unidentified. At least 45 individuals were rescued from the burning building.
The mall housed various shops and a restaurant. Its hasty opening and apparent lack of safety precautions have drawn public outrage, with criticism mounting over Iraq’s poor enforcement of construction and fire safety standards, long plagued by mismanagement and corruption.
The city of Kut, located approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, is now mourning one of the deadliest fire disasters in Iraq’s recent history.
