At least 113 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in a fire that ripped through a wedding celebration in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, local officials and emergency services said.
According to the BBC, Nineveh Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaq said that 113 people have been confirmed dead so far.
The fire was reported to have started at approximately 10:45pm local time (19:45 GMT) on Tuesday night.
Najim al-Jubouri, the provincial governor of Nineveh, cautioned early on Wednesday that there were no final casualty figures yet from the blaze, which suggests the death toll still may rise.
“All efforts are being made to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate accident,” Iraq’s Health Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr said.
Iraq’s civil defence said initial reports indicated that fireworks used during the celebration may have been the cause of the fire. “Preliminary information indicates that fireworks were used during a wedding, which triggered a fire in the hall,” civil defence authorities said in a statement early on Wednesday.
Safety standards in Iraq’s construction and transport sectors are often disregarded, and the country, whose infrastructure is in disrepair after decades of conflict, is regularly the scene of fatal fires and accidents.
