MOSCOW: The death toll from the deadly wedding fire in Iraq’s Nineveh Governorate has increased to 119 after more than 20 people died from burns in recent days, Sputnik quoted Iraqi news agency Shafaq News report on Tuesday.
The agency cited local activists deeply affected by the tragedy as saying that the bride’s father was among the victims.
Eight people were laid to rest in the Al-Hamdaniya district, east of the city of Mosul, earlier on Tuesday, the report said.
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society said last week that more than 450 people had either died or had been injured as a result of the fire.
An adviser to the Iraqi interior minister said earlier this week that an investigative commission set up to probe into the cause of the fire had concluded that it was an accident.
Al Jazeera has reported, citing the Iraqi Interior Ministry, that many people had died because the emergency exits in the wedding hall had been closed.
One of the guests posted a video on social media of the canopy on the ceiling in the centre of the hall, which was crowded with tables with food, catching fire.
The ministry has said authorities had detained 14 people involved in the incident and arrested the owner of the wedding hall. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
