BAGHDAD: A massive fire in a hypermarket in al-Kut city in southern Iraq has left at least 69 people dead and 11 others missing, the city’s health authorities and two police sources said on Thursday.

“We have more bodies that have not been recovered still under fire debris,” city official Ali al-Mayahi said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but an initial police report suggested that the fire had first erupted on the floor where perfumes and cosmetics are sold.

“Raging fires trapped many people inside the mall, and everyone was desperately trying to find a way out,” said Ali Al-Zargani, whose house is next to the market building and who entered the premises after the fire had subsided.

“I saw the charred bodies of children and women lying on the ground it was a horrifying scene.” While some of the bodies were prepared for burial, with mourners weeping and praying over the coffins, the remains of more than 15 severely burned victims required DNA testing for identification, a witness said.

Initial police report suggests fire erupted on floor where perfumes and cosmetics are sold

As rescuers combed the smoke-charred building for more bodies, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered an immediate investigation to “uncover any shortcomings”, his office said in a statement. A statement from his office called for national mourning.

The provincial governor said initial results from an investigation would be announced within 48 hours, the INA state news agency reported. “We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” INA quoted the governor as saying.

A lack of safety measures in Iraq has led to large death tolls in fires. In 2023, more than 100 people were killed after a fire swept through a crowded wedding hall in a northern town. Officials said many people suffocated in bathrooms, while one person said his five relatives died in an elevator.

The blaze — the latest in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected — broke out on Wednesday, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall.

Several people said they lost family members — and in some cases whole families — who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened in Kut, around 160 kilometres southeast of Baghdad. Footage shared on social media showed people including children standing on the roof, calling for help.

The official INA news agency later quoted a medical source who put the toll at 63 dead and 40 injured. Wasit provincial governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told INA the victims included men, women and children.

Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, which includes a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry said

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2025