More than 100 people have been killed and 150 people injured in a fire at a wedding celebration in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq’s Nineveh province, Iraqi state media have reported.
Nineveh Deputy Governor Hasan al-Allaq told Reuters that 113 people had been confirmed dead, with state media putting the death toll at least 100, with 150 injured.
The fire ripped through a large events hall in the north-eastern region after fireworks were lit during the celebration, state media said.
Video from a Reuters correspondent at the site showed firefighters clambering over the charred wreckage of the building in search of survivors.
Preliminary information indicated that the building was made of highly flammable construction materials, contributing to its rapid collapse, state media said.
Ambulances and medical crews were dispatched to the site by federal Iraqi authorities and authorities in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, according to official statements.
Eyewitnesses at the site said the building caught fire at about 10:45pm local time and that hundreds of people were in attendance at the time of the incident.
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