A raging fire seemingly caused by fireworks set off to celebrate a Christian wedding consumed a hall packed with guests in northern Iraq, killing at least 100 people and injuring 150 others as authorities warned Wednesday the death toll could still rise.
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The fire happened in the Hamdaniya area of Iraq’s Nineveh province, authorities said. That's a predominantly Christian area just outside of the city of Mosul, some 335 kilometers (205 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
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There was no official word on the cause of the blaze, but the Kurdish television news channel Rudaw showed fireworks shooting up from the floor of the event and setting a chandelier aflame.
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In the blaze’s aftermath, only charred metal and debris could be seen as people walked through the scene of the fire, the only light coming from television cameras and the lights of onlookers’ mobile phones.
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Civil defense officials quoted by the Iraqi News Agency described the wedding hall's exterior as decorated with highly flammable cladding that is illegal in the country.
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Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the fire and asked the country's Interior and Health officials to provide relief, his office said in a statement online.
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Emergency personnel work at the site following a fatal fire at a wedding celebration.
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A view of the site following a fatal fire at a wedding celebration.
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People gather at the site following a fatal fire at a wedding celebration, in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq's Nineveh province, Iraq.
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Cordon tape surrounds the site following a fatal fire at a wedding celebration, in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq's Nineveh province, Iraq.
Image Credit: Reuters
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