A tragic incident unfolded in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province as a devastating fire swept through a wedding celebration, claiming the lives of at least 113 individuals and leaving over 150 injured.
Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaq confirmed the grim death toll, cautioning that the numbers might escalate.
This video shows how the fireworks engulfed a wedding hall in Nineveh’s Hamdaniya district gradually, where the festivities were underway. Fireballs which started falling from the ceiling ultimately turned the wedding ceremony into hell.
Hamdaniya, also known as Qaraqosh, predominantly houses Christians and lies outside Mosul, about 400 kilometers (approximately 250 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
Iraq’s health ministry spokesman, Saif al-Badr, assured that extensive efforts were underway to aid those affected by the tragic incident.
On Wednesday, heart-wrenching scenes played out as funerals commenced for the fire’s victims. Mourning relatives gathered outside a morgue in Mosul, expressing profound grief and loss.
“This wasn’t a wedding. This was hell,” lamented Mariam Khedr, waiting for officials to return the bodies of her daughter Rana Yakoub, 27, and three young grandchildren, the youngest just eight months old.
The authorities mentioned, “Preliminary information indicates that fireworks were used during a wedding, which triggered a fire in the hall,” in an early Wednesday statement.
Fireworks are a customary feature of Iraqi weddings, with approximately 1,000 attendees reported at the celebration when the tragedy occurred.
Suspicions arose regarding the hall’s construction materials, which were potentially flammable, and concerns were raised about the absence of adequate safety measures, including emergency exits.
The civil defence highlighted the presence of highly flammable prefabricated panels at the event hall, which were deemed non-compliant with safety standards.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
