At least 61 dead, 45 rescued in huge fire at hypermarket in Iraq’s Kut

At least 61 people have been killed and several more are missing in a huge fire at a hypermarket in Kut city in eastern Iraq, according to officials.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said on Thursday that 14 charred bodies had been found in the mall fire in the Wasit governorate and that civil defence teams had rescued 45 people from inside the building.
Videos on social media showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in Kut overnight, where firefighters were trying to contain the fire.
The mall, which had opened only a week earlier, also contained a restaurant and supermarket. The state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that people remained missing.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that he had directed the interior minister to go to the site of the fire to investigate and take measures to prevent a recurrence.

Al Jazeera’s Imogen Kimber reports.

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