Overview

• Authorities confirm 61 fatalities, most from suffocation, and report 11 people remain missing after the blaze at the five-story Corniche Hypermarket Mall in Kut.
• Civil defense teams rescued more than 45 shoppers and staff who were trapped inside the newly opened complex during overnight operations.
• Wasit province governor Mohammed al-Miyahi has filed legal cases against the mall’s owner and management over alleged safety violations.
• A three-day period of mourning has been declared across Wasit province as families await clarity on the blaze’s origin.
• The disaster underscores recurring lapses in building codes and fire-safety enforcement following similar deadly fires in Iraq in recent years.