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A fire tore through a large banquet hall in Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 114 people and injuring 150 who were celebrating a Christian wedding, authorities announced.
The fast-moving blaze burned the hall to the ground in Iraq’s predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province, authorities said.
The exterior walls of the event space were reportedly covered in highly flammable cladding that is illegal in the country, civil defense officials quoted by the state-run Iraqi News Agency said.
“The fire led to the collapse of parts of the hall as a result of the use of highly flammable, low-cost building materials that collapse within minutes when the fire breaks out,” civil defense said.
All that was left of the venue was charred metal and debris after the fire was put out.
It’s unclear how the venue’s use of illegal cladding made it past the authorities.
The building material that is used to cover a structure’s exterior is outlawed in several countries that experienced similar deadly fires in structures dressed in flammable cladding.
The material is often not designed to meet the same safety standards that structural materials are.
The cause of the fire is still being determined, but fireworks at the hall may have ignited the flames, the Kurdish news channel Rudaw reported.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani requested an investigation into the deadly inferno and ordered the country’s interior and health officials to provide relief to those affected.
The health department in Nineveh province said the death toll was 114 and Health Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr said the number of injured was about 150 via the Iraqi News Agency — though authorities warned both numbers could rise.
“All efforts are being made to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate accident,” al-Badr said.
Many of the injured were treated at local hospitals where they were given oxygen.
With Post wires
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