IRAQ: MOURNERS DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY, BURY LOVED ONES AFTER WEDDING INFERNO

Fri 29 September 2023:

Calls for accountability grew on Thursday for the victims of a deadly fire at an Iraqi wedding celebration in a Christian town as grief-stricken mourners attended a packed memorial service and families buried their loved ones, Reuters reports.

More than 100 people died and at least 150 were injured on Tuesday evening in an inferno that government officials have said was enabled by a lack of safety and security measures and the use of highly flammable materials in the building.

At least 100 dead as fire rips through wedding sparked by ‘fireworks for first dance’ in Iraq.#حريق_الحمدانية #نينوى #حريق_الحمدانية #العراق pic.twitter.com/R3IxZ3iWA4

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In a sermon interrupted at times by the wails of women clad in black, a priest at Al-Tahira Church in Hamdaniya – also known as Qaraqosh – told mourners that Iraq had been united in grief but criticised officials for “your corruption, your favouritism”.

Nothing is up to standard in this country

he said as mourners, some crying, others holding pictures of the deceased, listened on.

We have to hold those who are responsible accountable … enough, enough!

Criticism of a lax approach to public safety is common in Iraq, a country where the State has been weakened by recurring conflict since the 2003 US invasion, and where services are impaired by pervasive corruption for which few senior officials are ever held to account.

The tragedy has revived memories of deadly fires that swept through two hospitals in Iraq in 2021, killing at least 174 people in all, which were at the time blamed on negligence, lax regulations and corruption.

Government officials have announced the arrest of 14 people over Tuesday night’s fire, including the owners of the events hall, and promised a swift investigation with results announced within 72 hours.

The government has also ordered immediate inspections of large public gathering spaces such as hotels, schools and hospitals.

“There is no such thing as destiny in Christianity; this is man-made,” said Botrous Kareem, a local resident who lost five cousins in the fire and was on his way to a cemetery to attend more burials. “God has nothing to do with this.”