The fire at the recently completed six-story Corniche Hypermarket Mall in Kut, where men, women, and children were reportedly shopping last night, has prompted authorities to initiate an inquiry.

Horrible footage showed the block enveloped in smoke and flames as the fire reportedly started on the building’s first floor and spread throughout the entire block.

People can be seen on the roof as the flames spread up the building in terrifying video that has been making the rounds on social media. It is unclear whether they were rescued.

Firefighters rescued a number of individuals from the structure, local media reports. Until 4 a.m. local time, ambulances continued to transport victims to the hospital.

Firefighters are still on the site of the structure, which is fully charred and burned out in these horrifying photos of the wreckage taken this morning.

In the ruins of the structure, searchers were still looking for the missing this morning.

There are’many unidentifiable remains,’ according to a medical source, and the deceased are reportedly men, women, and children.

“The tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 charred bodies yet to be identified,” the interior ministry of Iraq stated in a statement.

The interior ministry reported that more than 45 individuals who were trapped within the five-story structure, which houses a restaurant and a grocery, were rescued by civil defence teams.

According to reports, the fire began on the first floor of the building late on Wednesday and quickly spread across the entire structure.

It is merely the most recent tragedy in a nation where safety rules are routinely disregarded.

One survivor claimed that an air conditioner had exploded, though the reason of last night’s catastrophe was not immediately discovered.

As late as 4:00 am, ambulances were still transporting victims to hospitals, and wards in Kut, which is around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, were overcrowded.

The mall had just opened five days prior, according to an AFP correspondent, who also claimed to have seen burnt bodies at the province’s forensic department.

Though the fire was eventually extinguished, firefighters kept searching for missing victims.

Social media videos showed heartbroken family members, some of whom were fainting in sadness, waiting for news at the hospital.

“Oh my father, oh my heart,” cried one man as he sat on the ground, banging his chest.

As the ambulances arrived, dozens of people, some of them overcome with emotion, gathered outside the hospital to check them.

A doctor in his 50s named Nasir al-Quraishi claimed to have lost five family members in the fire.

“A disaster has befallen us,” he told AFP. “We went to the mall to have some food, eat dinner and escape power cuts at home.”

“An air conditioner exploded on the second floor and then the fire erupted – and we couldn’t escape.”

In addition to declaring three days of mourning, Governor Miyahi announced that local authorities will sue the building contractor and the mall’s owner.

“The tragedy is a major shock… and requires a serious review of all safety measures,” he said.

A ‘thorough probe’ into the fire was ordered by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in order to find’shortcomings’ and stop future accidents.

The top leader of Shiite Islam in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, sent condolences to the relatives of the victims.

The building industry in Iraq frequently disregards safety regulations, and the nation frequently experiences deadly fires and accidents due to its deteriorating infrastructure from decades of war.

As temperatures rise towards 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) during the scorching summer, the number of fires increases.

At least 100 people were killed in September 2023 when a fire tore through a packed wedding venue in Iraq, causing a frenzied rush for the exits.

More than 60 patients were murdered in a fire in the Covid section of a hospital in southern Iraq in July 2021.