“We lost several friends and relatives in this painful incident,” sobbed Corques, who fortunately was not injured because he was close to the exit of the premises when it began to burn.

Basel Samir was also there, another participant who witnessed how ” the ceiling of the room started to burn at crazy speed,” until he crashed into the crowd gathered on the dance floor.

“There was a crush, then avalanche at the exit…And this led to some people falling to the ground and being trampled by others,” he told EFE.

A fire in Iraq with many precedents

This was stated by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani. three days of mourning throughout Iraq Following the tragedy, one of the worst of its kind in the Arab country in recent years, although fires and explosions in crowded spaces have been a constant occurrence for five years.

Likewise, Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari ordered the formation of investigative committee to find out the facts and announced the issuance of arrest warrants for four property owners they accuse of failing to comply with minimum building standards.

Likewise, authorities have already arrested nine workers from that interrogation room, according to the Iraqi state news agency INA.

IN Fires are common in Iraq in institutions, especially due to rising summer temperatures and lack of maintenance, corruption and poor infrastructure in a country still recovering from decades of war and sectarian violence.

The deadliest fire in recent years occurred in 2021 in Baghdad Hospitalwhich killed 82 people and came shortly after a similar incident killed 60 people at another medical center, this time in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.

EFE