Fire at shopping mall in Iraq kills over 60 people
"We have filed lawsuits against owner of building and mall," INA quoted governor as saying
July 17, 2025
- Fire engulfs five-storey building in eastern Iraq.
- 11 people remain missing under debris.
- Cause of fire not immediately known.
A massive fire in a hypermarket in al-Kut city in eastern Iraq has left at least 61 people dead and 11 others missing, the city's health authorities and two police sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Videos circulating on social media showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in al-Kut overnight as firefighters tried to contain the blaze.
"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 told Reuters.
"We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris," city official Ali al-Mayahi told Reuters.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the province's governor said initial results from an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, the state news agency (INA)reported.
"We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall," INA quoted the governor as saying.
'We couldn't escape'
INA news agency later quoted a medical source who put the toll at 63 dead and 40 injured.
Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told the official INA news agency the victims included men, women and children.
A medical source in Kut told AFP there were "many unidentified bodies".
An AFP correspondent reported seeing charred bodies at the province´s forensic department.
Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, which includes a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry said.
Ambulances ferried casualties as late as 4:00 am, with wards in Kut overwhelmed.
An AFP correspondent reported seeing distraught relatives waiting at the forensic department for news, some collapsing in grief.
One man fell apart, pounding his chest and screaming.
Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, said he 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."
