Iraq wedding fire: What we know about Qaraqosh blaze

Authorities said preliminary information suggested the fire was started by the fireworks

A fire swept through a Christian wedding party in northern Iraq last Tuesday, killing at least 107 people. Here is what we know.

Where did it happen?

It ripped through al-Haitham Hall, a large event venue which is located on the outskirts of the northern town of Qaraqosh. Also known as Bakhdida, it is the main centre of al-Hamdaniya district and is about 15km (9 miles) south-east of the city of Mosul.

Qaraqosh was the biggest Christian town in Iraq - with a population of about 50,000, most of them Assyrians - before it was overrun by the Sunni Muslim jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in 2014. The town is still being rebuilt and about half of its residents are said to have returned.

How did the blaze start?

Witnesses said it began between 22:00 and 22:45 local time (19:00-19:45 GMT), when fireworks were lit inside the hall as the bride and groom danced.

"During the slow dance, one of the fireworks hit the roof," one man told Rudaw, an Iraqi Kurdish news agency. "The ceiling caught fire suddenly and it spread everywhere because it was all made of sandwich panels, vinyl sheets and fabric."

"Everything caught fire and started falling on people's heads. Nobody was able to get out."

Rania Waad, a 17-year-old girl, who was burned on the hand, told AFP news agency: "The fireworks started to climb to the ceiling [and] the whole hall went up in flames."

One video posted online shows four large fountain fireworks alight in the hall, as many people sit at long tables nearby and loud music plays. Moments later, a large ceiling decoration covered with tassels and lights is engulfed by fire and screams ring out.

In other footage, filmed from a different angle, the bride and groom and other guests are seen dodging burning debris falling on to the dancefloor.

Shortly after that, the power went off, making it difficult to see anything and get out.

What do we know about the victims?

Some reports have put the death toll as high as 119, but a government investigative committee announced on Sunday that 107 people were killed.

Both bride and groom survived the fire, although both suffered minor burns and lost close relatives, a friend of the couple told AFP.

"The bride lost her whole family - three brothers, all of her uncles and her young cousins. The groom lost his mother," Jamil al-Jamil said.

The unnamed survivor interviewed by Rudaw said he had more than 20 relatives at the wedding and that some of them were killed.

"I have a friend whose whole family died. He, his children, his mother, his wife, everyone. Many entire families died," he added. "It's a human catastrophe, an extermination."

Three days of national mourning have been declared for the victims

At a local mortuary, Mariam Khedr told Reuters news agency that she was waiting for officials to return the bodies of her 27-year-old daughter, Rana Yakoub, and her three grandchildren.

Another man who was burned on his hands and face said he managed to save his three-year-old grandson, but that his wife, Bashra Mansour, who was in her 50s, fell while trying to flee the blaze and died.

Many of the 82 people injured by the fire suffered serious burns.

"The majority of them were completely burned and some others had 50 to 60% of their bodies burned," Nineveh province health official Ahmed Dubardani told Rudaw.

What have investigators said?

Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari announced on Sunday that the investigative committee had concluded that the fire was "was accidental and 100% an act of God".

"Fireworks were the main cause of the fire," he said, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA). He that the flammable decorations on the ceiling also helped the blaze spread quickly.

The head of the investigative committee, Gen Saad Faleh, said the four pyrotechnic devices shot showers of sparks 4m (13ft) into the air. "This was the distance that allowed them to reach the hall's ceiling, ultimately leading to the fire."

Mr Shammari noted that the hall had a capacity of 500, but that "twice the number" were inside when the blaze started. It was also "devoid of emergency doors".

He added: "The hall's owner thought that a short circuit had started the fire, so he cut the electricity, which had a significant impact. This provoked chaos, panic and a stampede."

The Civil Defence Directorate previously said that the hall was covered with highly flammable, low-cost metal composite panels, also known as sandwich panels, which "collapse within minutes when a fire breaks out".

Composite panels made from plastic and aluminium installed on the sides of London's Grenfell Tower were blamed for helping flames to spread when a fire broke out in June 2017, resulting in 72 deaths.

British fire safety expert Arnold Tarling told the BBC: "There should be 'firebreaks' in the ceiling and floor. Materials shouldn't be combustible, including wedding decorations."

He added: "These sort of fires are all completely avoidable. People bring fireworks to such events, but nobody ever thinks about it."

How have authorities responded?

Mr Shammari said investigators had referred "all those negligent" to the judiciary for prosecution.

Fourteen people were arrested following the fire, including the hall's owner and four people involved in setting off the fireworks. Some have since been released.

The interior minister also said the mayor of Qaraqosh, the municipal director, the tourism and recreation head, an electricity official, and the chief of firefighting and security for Nineveh's civil defence had been sacked for "failures in the exercise of their duties", according to AFP.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has demanded "the toughest punishments permitted by law for those responsible for negligence or failings that led to this tragic fire".

He has also ordered all relevant authorities to intensify building inspections and verification of safety procedures at shopping centres, restaurant, event halls and hotels.

Safety standards are often poorly observed in Iraq, which has been plagued by decades of mismanagement and corruption.