A massive fire that engulfed a shopping centre in the southern Iraqi city of Kut has left at least 69 people dead while 11 others are still missing, according to the latest information, which could raise the final death toll in the tragedy, that once again reveals the serious security deficiencies suffered by many buildings in the country.
According to information published by Reuters, citing police and health sources in the Iraqi city, 69 bodies have now been identified in the wreckage of the shopping centre, while more than a dozen people are still missing. Numerous videos posted on media and social media showed flames engulfing the five-storey mall in the middle of the night. “Everyone was desperately trying to find a way out,” witnesses said.
The governor of Wasit province – of which Al-Kut is the capital – Mohammed al-Mayahi said in remarks reported by Al-Jazeera that the fire at the mall, which had opened only a week ago, started on a floor containing a supermarket and restaurant, where local families were shopping and dining at the time the blaze broke out. The Iraqi authorities have promised to reveal the results of the investigation within 48 hours and have declared 3 days of national mourning.
Low construction and safety standards in Iraq are probably behind the fire in this shopping mall and other similar tragedies. This is the case of the July 2021 fire that left more than 60 people dead in a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah, on the banks of the Euphrates, which the investigation revealed was fuelled by the use of flammable and low-quality materials used in the building’s cladding. In 2023, another fire at a Christian wedding in Nineveh province left 114 people dead, again after the fire spread through the highly flammable roofing material.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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