More than 100 people were killed and 150 injured in a fire at a wedding party in Hamdaniya district in Iraq's Nineveh province that left civil defence searching the charred skeleton of a building for survivors into the early hours on Wednesday.
Nineveh deputy governor Hassan al-Allaq told Reuters 113 people had been confirmed dead and 150 injured.
The fire ripped through a large events hall in the north-eastern region after fireworks were lit during the celebration, the local civil defence said according to state media.
"We saw the fire pulsating, coming out of the hall. Some got out and other got stuck. Even those who made their way out were broken," said Imad Yohana, a 34-year-old who escaped the inferno.
Video from a Reuters correspondent at the site showed firefighters clambering over the charred wreckage of the building and shining lights across the smouldering ruins.
Preliminary information indicated the building was made of highly flammable construction materials, contributing to its rapid collapse, state media said.
Ambulances and medical crews were dispatched to the site by federal Iraqi authorities and Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, according to official statements.
Eyewitnesses at the site said the building caught fire at around 10.45pm local time and that hundreds of people were in attendance at the time of the incident.
Reuters
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