In tears, Iraqi town bids farewell to victims of tragic wedding fire
3 Min Read
The town of Hamdaniya in northern Iraq mourns the victims of the tragic fire that burned through a wedding venue, claiming the lives of more than 100 people and injuring about 150.
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Mourners attend the funeral of victims who were killed when a fire ripped through a crowded wedding hall in the northern city of Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniyah, on September 27, 2023 (AFP)
The town of Hamdaniya in northern Iraq today, Wednesday, bid farewell to the victims of the tragic fire that struck a wedding last night.
Hundreds of mourners gathered around the heads of Iraqi churches in the cemetery located in the Nineveh Plain, east of Mosul, for prayers and hymns in Syriac and Arabic.
#تشييع ضحايا #الحمدانية
— وكالة يد العراق الاخبارية (@ydlrq1) September 27, 2023
بالفديو عريس فاجعة الحمدانية منهار اثناء تشييع جنائز الحادثة #وكالة_يد_العراق_الاخبارية #محلية #اخبار #قضاء_الحمدانية pic.twitter.com/ujw7CWvWR4
The tragic fire claimed the lives of about 110 people and injured 150 others, according to the Iraqi authorities.
Following the disaster, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced a three-day public mourning in the whole country over the victims.
The Prime Minister’s Media Office said in a statement, quoted by Iraqi News Agency (INA), that the prime minister declared public mourning for a period of three days, for the victims who fell in the Hamdaniyah fire accident in the Nineveh Plain region.”
Circulated on social media, video clips filmed by some attendees before the fire broke out clearly showed fireworks devices releasing sparks that fell on the ceiling of the hall, setting it on fire.
Another video of a fire in a wedding hall in Iraq pic.twitter.com/Tz2S6YX7nN
— janetking (@janetking851241) September 27, 2023
Samira Shito, a 53-year-old housewife who came to bury 15 of her relatives, said in a melancholy tone, "From the father to the youngest child, aged four."
"We still have to bury a man and his two twin daughters. They're dead but we haven't recovered the bodies," she added. Other burials are planned in the coming days.
"There's no sentiment possible; we're all dead," the 50-year-old said. "There isn't a single person who hasn't lost a family member or a friend."
"في قرقوش، كلنا ميتون"، هكذا عبرت سميرة التي دفنت 15 شخصاً من أقاربها الأربعاء، قضوا في حريق حفل الزفاف، عن حزن تشاطره مع عشرات العائلات الأخرى في هذه البلدة المسيحية في شمال العراق بعد الفاجعة التي ألّمت بهم.
— Laure Al-Khoury (@laure_khoury) September 27, 2023
بعض الشهادات من تشييع الضحايا هنا: @AFPar
https://t.co/BnuNOXDPis pic.twitter.com/m1At1LUSSt
According to the Iraqi Civil Defense, “preliminary information” indicates that the cause of the fire was “the use of fireworks during the wedding ceremony,” which led to “a fire igniting inside the hall initially,” in addition to the use of “highly flammable” building materials that “violate the safety instructions” stipulated by law, which contributed to increasing the severity of the fire.
🇮🇶 More than 100 people, including the bride and groom, were killed and 150 injured in a fire at a wedding party in #Iraq.
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) September 27, 2023
Preliminary information indicated that the building was made of highly flammable #construction materials. pic.twitter.com/tQVaqZJQD5
As fear and panic set in, the fire caused a stampede for the door, leaving many unable to escape in time, especially due to the shortage in the number of emergency exits.
Later, the Security Council of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region announced that the owner of the wedding hall in Nineveh Governorate was arrested following an order for his arrest and others involved.
The Iraqi Minister of Interior, Abdul-Amir al-Shammari, confirmed that the owner of the wedding hall in Hamdaniya had been handed over after he was arrested by the security services in the Kurdistan region, according to the official Iraqi agency.
