La Quotidienne de Bruxelles - Iraq shopping mall fire kills more than 60

Officials said many people suffocated in bathrooms, while one person told AFP that his five relatives died in an elevator.

The blaze -- the latest in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected -- broke out late Wednesday, reportedly starting on the first floor before rapidly engulfing the five-storey Corniche Hypermarket Mall.

The cause was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded.

Several people told AFP they lost families including mothers and children who had gone to shop and dine at the mall, days after it opened in Kut -- around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

Footage shared on social media showed people including children standing on the roof, calling for help.

Ali Kadhim, 51, has been shuttling between the mall and the main hospital, where the victims were taken, looking for his cousin, who is missing with his wife and three children.

Back at the mall, he waited anxiously as rescuers searched for victims in the wreckage, with an ambulance on standby.

"We don't know what happened to them," he said.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said the blaze had been contained and the front of the building was severely charred.

The interior ministry said in a statement that "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."

- 'We couldn't escape' -

INA news agency later quoted a medical source who put the toll at 63 dead and 40 injured.

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

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

Civil defence teams rescued more than 45 people who were trapped inside the building, which includes a restaurant and a supermarket, the interior ministry said.

Ambulances ferried casualties as late as 4:00 am, with wards in Kut overwhelmed.

An AFP correspondent reported seeing distraught relatives waiting at the forensic department for news, some collapsing in grief.

One man fell apart, pounding his chest and screaming.

Nasir al-Quraishi, a doctor in his 50s, said he lost five family members in the fire.

"A disaster has befallen us," he told AFP. "We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home.

"An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted -- and we couldn't escape."

- Lax safety regulations -

Moataz Karim, 45, hurried to the mall at midnight, only to be met with the devastating news that three of his relatives were missing.

Hours later, he identified two relatives despite their charred bodies, one of whom had only begun working at the shopping centre three days ago.

"There is no fire extinguishing system," he said in anger, as he waited further news outside the forensic department.

Safety standards in Iraq's construction sector are often disregarded, and the country, whose infrastructure is in disrepair after decades of conflict, is often the scene of fatal fires and accidents.

Fires increase during the blistering summer as temperatures approach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).

In September 2023, a fire killed at least 100 people when it ripped through a crowded Iraqi wedding hall, sparking a panicked stampede for the exits.

In July 2021, a fire in the Covid unit of a hospital in southern Iraq killed more than 60 people.

Governor Miyahi declared three days of mourning in Wasit province and said local authorities would file a lawsuit against the mall's owner and the building contractor.

"The tragedy is a major shock... and requires a serious review of all safety measures," he said.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered a "thorough probe" into the fire to identify "shortcomings" and prevent further incidents.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Shiite Islam's highest authority in Iraq, offered condolences to the victims' families.

H.Vermeulen--LCdB