At least 100 people died and 150 were injured today due to a fire during a marriage in a party hall in the north of Iraq, health authorities noted.
The medical services of the province of Nineveh counted 100 deaths and more than 150 injured in the fire in a wedding hall in the small town of Al Hamdaniya, noted the official Iraqi press agency INA, which clarified that it was a “preliminary” assessment.
At the main hospital Hamdaniya, a predominantly Christian area east of the metropolis of Mosul, A photographer saw numerous ambulances arriving with their sirens on, the AFP news agency reported.
Dozens of people gathered in the center patio, among relatives of the victims and volunteers who wanted to donate blood, according to the same source.
The crowd was also gathering in front of the open doors of a refrigerated truck carrying several body bags, the AFP photographer added.
In a statement, the civil defense services reported the presence of prefabricated panels “highly flammable and contrary to safety regulations” in the party room where the catastrophe occurred.
“He fire caused certain parts of the roof to fall due to the use of highly flammable and inexpensive construction materials,” said the same source.
“Preliminary information indicates that fireworks were used during a wedding, which triggered a fire in the room,” they added in their statement.
Source: Ambito
