61 killed in huge fire in commercial mall eastern Iraq

CAIRO – 17 July 2025: A total of 61 people were killed after a huge fire broke out in a recently-inaugurated five-story commercial mall in the city of Kut, Iraq, on Wednesday evening, announced the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in a statement on Thursday.

Most of the victims suffocated to death in bathrooms as a result of the heavy smoke. Among them also, there were 14 unidentified charred bodies, the statement added.

The mall housed a restaurant and a hypermarket, which had been open only seven days earlier, according to the statement. 

The Civil Defense teams rescued more than (45) people trapped inside the building.

The Ministry of Interior instructed to form a high-level investigation committee, headed by the minister's technical advisor, to probe into the real causes of the fire and accurately and transparently identify the areas of failure.