61 people killed as fire engulfs new mall in Iraq's Wasit
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As victims' families mourn, Iraqi officials vow accountability after a deadly mall fire exposes safety lapses in the heart of Kut.
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Firefighters battle towering flames at Kut’s Hyper Mall as rescue efforts continue through the night amid rising casualties (X)
At least 61 people have been confirmed dead after a massive fire engulfed a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry on Thursday.
In detail, most of the fatalities died in bathrooms from suffocation. Rescue teams found 14 charred bodies yet to be identified.
"The tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 charred bodies yet to be identified," the ministry said in a statement. Authorities had previously put the toll at 50 dead.
The fire broke out late Wednesday night at the Hyper Mall, a major commercial center that had been operating for just five days. The cause of the fire remains unknown, though early reports suggest the blaze may have started on the mall’s first floor.
🚨 Nearly 50 killed and injured in shopping center fire in eastern Iraq
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) July 17, 2025
◾️ Blaze breaks out in mall in Kut city, Wasit governorate, south of Baghdad shopping center fire in eastern Iraq https://t.co/P4hkRQkDd0 pic.twitter.com/ucLUr5QSLp
Emergency crews worked through the night as ambulances continued to transport the injured well into Thursday morning. By 4:00 am, local hospitals in Kut, located roughly 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, were overwhelmed by the influx of casualties.
An AFP correspondent at the scene described chaotic conditions in medical wards and reported seeing charred bodies among the fatalities.
More than 45 people were rescued by civil defense teams, the Interior Ministry confirmed. It is worth noting that the building housed both a restaurant and a supermarket and was packed with families seeking relief from the summer heat and frequent power outages.
Among the victims was Nasir al-Quraishi, a local doctor in his fifties, who lost five members of his family in the tragedy. “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.”
Mourning declared, legal action to follow
Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.
On his part, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called for an immediate investigation into the causes and circumstances of the Kut shopping mall fire tragedy and directed the dispatch of a fully-equipped medical team to support efforts to rescue and treat the injured.
In the aftermath of the fire, Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi declared a three-day mourning period across Wasit province, urging residents to stand in solidarity with the victims’ families.
He also announced that legal proceedings would be initiated against those responsible for the building’s construction and management. “A lawsuit will be filed against the building and mall owner,” he said, as quoted by Iraq’s state-run INA news agency.
He added that investigators would determine whether negligence or safety violations contributed to the deadly blaze.
As Iraq reels from yet another preventable urban disaster, questions are mounting over fire safety enforcement and oversight in the country’s rapidly expanding commercial infrastructure.
