As many as 114 people have died after a raging fire ripped through a wedding celebration hall packed in Iraq, with fears the bride and groom are among the victims.
The local governor has said there were 114 killed, but the Iraqi Red Crescent fears as many as 450 people could have perished.
The blaze was caused by fireworks set off to celebrate a Christian wedding at a hall in the Al-Hamdaniya district of the northern Nineveh province, part of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
“We saw the fire pulsating, coming out of the hall. Those who managed got out and those who didn’t got stuck. Even those who made their way out were broken,” said 34-year-old Imad Yohana, who escaped the flames at the Iraqi wedding.
Iraqi Ministry of Health spokesman Saif Al-Badr said that “All efforts are being made to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate accident.”
Authorities say the death toll could rise even higher following the inferno in the predominantly Christian area just outside the city of Mosul.
An unverified video of the event, posted on social media, showed the flares suddenly catching a glittering ceiling decoration that burst into flames, as the excitement suddenly turned into panic and then tragedy.
Hundreds of people were attending at the wedding celebration, according to the survivors. The fire began about an hour into the event when flares ignited a ceiling decoration as the bride and groom danced.
“This was not a wedding. This was hell,” said Mariam Khedr, crying and mourning as she waited for officials to return the bodies of her daughter Rana Yakoub, 27, and three young grandchildren.