2023-09-27 00:49:41
Activists from the Iraqi Nineveh Governorate warned, on Tuesday, of the small number of hospitals equipped to deal with the victims of the Hamdaniyah wedding fire tragedy, which claimed hundreds of lives and injuries, while Al-Hurra’s correspondent said that the city’s hospitals were full of victims, while the Iraqi Ministry of Health confirmed that the situation “ under control”.
The reporter said that hospitals in Nineveh Governorate “are no longer able to receive more wounded” and that some of them were transferred to hospitals in the neighboring city of Erbil.
At least 100 people celebrating a wedding in Iraq were killed, late Tuesday evening, local time, as a result of a fire in the banquet hall where the wedding was taking place in the city of Hamdaniya in Mosul, according to the Health Department in Nineveh Governorate.
The department told the official Iraqi News Agency that the initial death toll from the wedding reached 100 people.
Iraq: At least 100 killed in a fire in a wedding hall
At least 100 people celebrating a wedding in Iraq were killed, late Tuesday evening, local time, as a result of a fire in the banquet hall where the wedding was taking place in the city of Hamdaniya in Mosul, according to the Health Department in Nineveh Governorate.
According to the Iraqi Red Crescent, the death toll has reached more than 450 people so far.
Al-Hurra’s correspondent quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the fire broke out following a number of guests used fireworks inside the wedding hall.
The Civil Defense Directorate in Nineveh had previously announced that the fire had been completely extinguished and that all victims had been removed from the hall, but the activist who is participating in coordinating relief operations in the city, Saqr Al Zakaria, in his interview with Al-Hurra website suggested that there were victims under the rubble.
Zakaria said, “All residents of the city of Baghdida lost relatives in the fire.”
The city of Baghdida, which is located in the Al-Hamdaniya district in Nineveh Governorate, is a city in which a Christian majority lives, and most of its families have close kinship ties to each other.
Zakaria also said that Yazidi guests were also killed in the incident.
Relief campaigns
Recordings sent by Zakaria showed long lines of cars rushing to the hospital and the scene of the accident, while dozens of relatives of the victims gathered in front of the hospital, in addition to dozens of volunteers.
Zakaria said that the city’s “stores” (the common name for wholesale drug sellers) and its pharmacies immediately began donating medicines and bandages to cover the shortage in government hospitals, and citizens also began transporting the wounded in their cars to distribute them to the city’s hospitals in light of the shortage of ambulances.
He stated that the condition of hospitals in Nineveh is “difficult”, in light of the lack of capabilities.
The Ministry is reassured
For its part, the Iraqi Ministry of Health confirmed that the situation is “under control” in the Nineveh Health Department, noting that close follow-up has been implemented by the Ministry’s Operations Center to treat those injured as a result of the Hamdaniya fire, according to what the Iraqi News Agency reported.conscious“.
“INA” reported what the spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Saif Al-Badr, said in a recording, that “under direct guidance from the Minister of Health, all health departments are on alert to provide support to the Nineveh Health Department.”
Al-Badr confirmed that “the situation is under control within the borders of the Nineveh Health Department.”
He added, “Support has arrived from all neighboring governorates and the Kurdistan Region to the Nineveh Health Department,” pointing out that “there is follow-up on the first aid provided to the injured according to the type of injury, as some cases are simple to moderate and others are difficult and are referred to specialized centers.”
He pointed out that “the initial statistics quoted from the Nineveh Health Department were 100 deaths and regarding 150 infections,” and reiterated that “the situation is under control and there is careful follow-up from the operations center in the ministry.”
He stated, “In implementation of the directives of the Minister of Health, the stores of the General Company for Marketing Medicines and Medical Supplies in the Ministry of Health continue to send shipments of medicines and medical supplies to Nineveh to rescue and treat those injured in the fire.”
Causes of fire
According to Zakaria, who was familiar with the condition of the wedding hall before the accident, what contributed to the fire was the fact that the walls were made of sandwich panels, which are metal sheets insulated with a type of sponge that contributes to thermal insulation, but is extremely flammable.
He also says that “the ceilings and walls are covered with decorative fabric curtains, which may have also contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.”
The Iraqi Civil Defense reveals the circumstances of the fire in a wedding hall in Nineveh
On Tuesday night, the Civil Defense Directorate revealed the details of the fire that broke out inside a wedding hall in Nineveh Governorate, which killed at least 100 people and injured 150 others.
The Civil Defense Directorate revealed, on Tuesday night, Wednesday, that “the wedding hall is covered with highly flammable Ecobond panels,” and said that the hall “violates safety instructions” and has been referred to the judiciary “according to Civil Defense Law No. 44 of 2013 because it lacks the safety requirements for alarm and firefighting systems.” Al-Rutbah in the Al-Hamdaniya area in Nineveh Governorate,” according to what was reported by the official news agency “INA.”
“INA” quoted the directorate as saying, “The fire led to the collapse of parts of the hall as a result of the use of highly flammable, low-cost building materials that collapse within minutes when the fire breaks out.”
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