A massive fire in a hypermarket in Al-Kut City in eastern Iraq, left at least 60 dead and 11 other disappeared persons, the city’s health authorities said on Thursday and two police sources.
Videos circulating on social networks showed flames engulfing a five-story building in Al-Kut overnight while the firefighters tried to contain the fire.
Reuters could not independently check the videos.
“We have compiled a list of 59 victims whose identities were confirmed, but a body was so seriously burned that it was extremely difficult to identify,” a city’s health official told Reuters.
“We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under the debris of fire,” the city official, Ali Al-Mayahi told Reuters.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but the governor of the province said that the first results of an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, reported the state news agency (INA).
“We have brought prosecution against the owner of the building and the shopping center,” said the governor.
