Fire at Iraq wedding party kills more than 100 people

A fire at a wedding party in northern Iraq killed over 100 people and injured at least 150 on Tuesday, local officials said, according to The Associated Press.

The fire took place in a town just outside Mosul, a predominantly Christian part of the country. Video of the blaze showed the wedding venue engulfed in flame, with the aftermath showing wreckage of ash and twisted metal.

“All efforts are being made to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate accident,” Health Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr told the state-run Iraqi News Agency.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the fire, his office said in a statement online. 

Local media and civil defense officials have speculated that fireworks at the wedding lit highly flammable cladding in the building on fire.

“The fire led to the collapse of parts of the hall as a result of the use of highly flammable, low-cost building materials that collapse within minutes when the fire breaks out,” an official told the Iraqi News Agency, according to the AP.