Massive fire at Iraq mall leaves at least 69 dead

A massive fire in a newly opened shopping mall in Al Kut city in southern Iraq has left at least 69 people dead, including children, and 11 others missing, the city's health authorities and two police sources told Reuters on Thursday.

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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.

Meanwhile, the UAE has expressed its sincere condolences and solidarity with the Republic of Iraq over the victims of a fire at a shopping mall in the city of Kut, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the victims, and to the government and people of Iraq over this tragedy, as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for all the injured.

Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who became trapped when the fire broke out in the city of Kut in Wasit province, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Others are still missing, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

Photographs and videos on local media showed the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, a five-storey shopping center that had opened only a week earlier, fully engulfed in flames.