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2025-07-18 Iraq
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More than 60 dead in Iraq shopping mall inferno 'after air conditioner explodes'
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[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] At least 61 people have died after a huge fire ripped through a shopping mall in Iraq, with a survivor saying the inferno began after an air conditioning unit exploded.
Officials have launched an investigation into the blaze at the newly-opened six-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall in the city of Kut, where men, women and children were said to be shopping last night.
The blaze reportedly began on the first floor of the building before tearing through the entire block, with horrifying video showing the block engulfed by flames and smoke.
Harrowing footage circulating on social media appears to show people on the roof as the flames rose up the building. It is unclear whether they were rescued.
Firefighters rescued a number of people from the building, local media reports. Ambulances were still taking casualties to hospital until 4am local time.
Chilling pictures of the aftermath this morning show the building completely blackened and burned out, with firefighters still at the scene.
Searches were continuing for the missing in the building's wreckage this morning.
A medical source said there are 'many unidentified bodies,' with the dead said to include men, women and children.
Iraq's interior ministry said in a statement: 'The tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 charred bodies yet to be identified.'
Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who were trapped inside the five-storey building, which includes a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry said.
The blaze broke out late Wednesday, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the building.
It is just the latest disaster in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected.
Like sprinklers?
The cause of last night's tragedy was not immediately known, but one survivor said that an air conditioner had exploded.
Ambulances were still ferrying casualties to hospitals as late as 4:00 am, with wards in Kut - around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad - overwhelmed.
An AFP correspondent said the mall had only opened five days earlier and reported seeing charred bodies at the province's forensic department. 
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Posted by Skidmark 2025-07-18 00:00||
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