A devastating fire at a hypermarket in Al-Kut, eastern Iraq, has claimed the lives of at least 61 people, with 11 others reported missing, according to the city’s health authorities and two police sources who spoke to Reuters on Thursday. Videos circulating on social media showed a five-story building in Al-Kut engulfed in flames overnight as firefighters struggled to contain the inferno.
“We have compiled a list of 59 victims whose identities have been confirmed, but one body was so badly burned that it has been extremely difficult to identify,” a city health official informed Reuters. Ali al-Mayahi, another city official, told Reuters, “We have more bodies that have not been recovered, still under fire debris.” The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the province’s governor stated that initial results from an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, as reported by the state news agency (INA). INA quoted the governor as saying, “We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall.”
‘We Couldn’t Escape’
The INA news agency later cited a medical source who placed the toll at 63 dead and 40 injured. Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told the official INA news agency that the victims included men, women, and children. A medical source in Kut told AFP there were “many unidentified bodies.” An AFP correspondent reported witnessing charred bodies at the province’s forensic department.
Civil defense teams successfully rescued over 45 people who were trapped inside the building, which houses a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry stated. Ambulances continued to transport casualties as late as 4:00 am, with wards in Kut becoming overwhelmed. An AFP correspondent observed distraught relatives waiting at the forensic department for news, some collapsing in grief. One man was overcome, pounding his chest and screaming in anguish.
Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, tragically lost five family members in the fire. “A disaster has befallen us,” he told AFP. “We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home. An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted — and we couldn’t escape.”
