Iraq shopping mall fire kills at least 60

A fire tore through a shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, killing at least 60 people, authorities said Thursday, as grief-stricken families searched for missing relatives.

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Officials have launched an investigation into the blaze, the latest in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected.

At least two people told AFP they lost five relatives who had gone to the newly opened Hyper Mall for shopping and dinner.

“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,” the interior ministry said in a statement.

Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi told the official INA news agency the victims include men, women and children.

A medical source in Kut told AFP there were “many unidentified bodies”.

Rescuers were still searching for the missing, an AFP correspondent reported from the scene.

Civil defense 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.