More than 100 people have died and at least 150 are injured after a fire at a Christian wedding celebration in Iraq’s Nineveh province.
The fire ripped through a large events hall in the north-eastern region after fireworks were lit during the celebration, local civil defence said, according to state media.
Nineveh Deputy Governor Hassan al Allaq told Reuters that 113 people have been confirmed dead. Health Ministry spokesman Saif al Badr earlier put the number of injured at 150 via the state-run Iraqi News Agency.
Witnesses have said the bride, named Haneen, and the groom, named Revan, survived the fire after initial reports said they had died.
Video footage shows the couple dancing as burning pieces of material fall from the roof.
Eyewitnesses at the site said the building caught fire at around 10.45pm local time (8.45pm UK time) and that up to 900 people were in attendance.
One of those injured in the fire told an Associated Press reporter from hospital: “(The bride and groom) were about to do a slow dance and then they lit up this thing for the dance which caught fire.”
Another man who was in the hospital with his injured brother said men, women and children had died.
Asked how the fire started, he continued: “They were about to do a slow dance, so they lit up fireworks. It hit the ceiling, which caught fire.”
He added the entire hall was on fire “in seconds”.
Footage shows firefighters clambering over the charred wreckage of the building in search of survivors.
Preliminary information indicated that the building was made of highly flammable construction materials, contributing to
its rapid collapse, state media said.
Civil defence officials have reportedly said the wedding hall’s exterior was decorated with highly flammable cladding that is illegal in the country.
The mangled infrastructure of the venue after the fire. Pic: Rudaw
It is not known if the bride and groom survived the inferno
Ambulances and medical crews were dispatched to the site by federal Iraqi authorities and authorities in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, according to official statements.
The fire happened in the Hamdaniya area of the Nineveh province close to the city of Mosul and around 200 miles from the capital Baghdad.
Health Ministry spokesman Saif al Badr said: “All efforts are being made to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate accident.”
Pic: Rudaw
Civil defence workers at the site. Pic: Rudaw
Pic: Rudaw
An Iraqi girl hurt in the fire in hospital in Hamdaniya Pic: AP
Najim al Jubouri, the provincial governor of Nineveh, said some of the injured had been transferred to regional hospitals.
He cautioned there were no final casualty figures yet from the blaze.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani said he had phoned Mr al Jubouri and “the Ministers of Interior and Health are directed to mobilise all efforts to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate incident”.
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People gather outside a hospital where some of the victims are being treated. Pic: Rudaw
An image from inside the venue before the fire. Pic: Rudaw
The number of Christians in Iraq today is estimated at 150,000, compared to 1.5 million in 2003.
Iraq’s total population is more than 40 million.