At least 61 people perished, and many more were hurt when a recently opened five-story shopping complex in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut was engulfed in flames on Wednesday. One of Iraq’s most horrific peacetime tragedies in recent years happened at the AlKornish Hypermarket, which had opened its doors only a week prior.
Most of the victims perished from smoke inhalation, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior; many of them were discovered inside bathrooms where they had tried to flee the suffocating fumes. Over 45 people caught in the structure were saved by emergency services working all night. Civil Defense teams were praised for their rapid and brave reaction; video of personnel pulling people to safety via upper-floor windows was provided.
Breaking out without warning, the fire rapidly consumed the structure, which contained a restaurant and a hypermarket. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani directed a thorough investigation into the cause and dispatched a medical team to help survivors. He also extended sympathies to the grieving and urged accountability for those guilty of any carelessness.
To look at possible safety policy breaches, a high-level investigation has been started. First results are due in 48 hours. Against the owner of the edifice, legal actions have started; three days of mourning have been declared in Wasit province.
This event brings to mind other disasters in Iraq, where enforcement of fire safety rules and construction codes is still erratic. Such mistakes caused the 2021 lethal hospital fire in Baghdad as well as a wedding hall blaze in Qaraqosh in 2023, both of which killed dozens of people.
The Kut fire has once more underlined how important coordinated public safety and infrastructure supervision reforms are now.
