First dance at wedding ends in tragedy as 100 die in fiery inferno

Chilling new footage shows the intensity of flames that tore through an Iraqi wedding this week, leaving at least 100 dead.

Chilling new footage has revealed the intensity of flames that tore through an Iraqi wedding this week, leaving at least 100 dead.

In seconds, the smiling bride and groom’s first dance ends in flaming debris falling on onlookers and venue staff.

Chilling new footage reveals a devastating fire at an Iraqi wedding, resulting in over 100 deaths. Picture: X

During the bride and groom’s first dance, the event turned into chaos as flaming debris fell on attendees and staff. Picture: X

Footage of the blaze circulating online shows the flames quickly take hold on the venue roof.

Mourning survivors filled the pews for a Christian mass Thursday in the northern province of Nineveh, two days after the disaster.

AFP reports mourners wept and embraced one another under the arches of the Syriac Catholic Church of Al-Tahera, where portraits of the dead lined the stairs, showing men, women and children of all ages.

Online footage shows flames quickly engulfing the venue’s roof. Picture: X

The incident occurred in Qaraqosh, a town still recovering from ISIS rule, and has sparked anger and calls for accountability. Picture: X

“I don’t know what to say; there is pain in our hearts, a tragedy that will never be forgotten,” said Najiba Yuhana, 55, who lost multiple relatives. “There is anger and sadness that is indescribable and without compare.” Authorities have blamed indoor fireworks that set alight ceiling decorations for the fire that quickly engulfed the reception hall constructed from highly combustible building materials.

At least 150 people suffered burns, smoke inhalation or crush injuries sustained in the stampede when the nearly 900 panicked guests tried to escape through the hall’s few exits.

Some of those killed were buried on Wednesday, but more funerals are planned for the coming days.

The fire was attributed to indoor fireworks igniting ceiling decorations in a highly combustible building. Picture: X

Both bride and groom survived the fire, their “minor burns” far outweighed by the crushing blow of losing so many family members, a friend of the couple, Jamil al-Jamil, told AFP.

“The bride lost her whole family – three brothers, all of her uncles and her young cousins. The groom lost his mother,” Jamil said.

The disaster hit the town of Qaraqosh, a centre of Iraq’s small Christian community in the Nineveh Plains near Mosul, which is still recovering from the terrors of the Islamic State group’s jihadist rule from 2014 to 2017.

The town, also known as Hamdaniyah, is now home to 26,000 Christians — half of its original population.

At the church, which Pope Francis visited in March 2021, many of the bereaved sobbed quietly, joined by a few survivors with bandaged wounds.

Mourning survivors gathered for a Christian mass in Nineveh province two days after the tragedy. Picture: Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP

Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, who has declared three days of national mourning, travelled to the province on Thursday to visit “the injured and the families of the victims”, his office said.

Sudani demanded “the toughest punishments permitted by law for those responsible for negligence or failings that led to this tragic fire”.

Anger has flared over the high death toll, which authorities have blamed in part on poorly observed safety regulations, an insufficient number of fire exits and the use of highly flammable building materials.

Around 150 people suffered injuries in the stampede to escape the hall. Picture: Safin HAMID / AFP

Authorities have arrested 14 people – the venue’s owner and 10 employees – and three suspected of having set off the fireworks, the interior minister said.

Safety standards are often poorly observed in Iraq, a country still recovering from decades of dictatorship, war and unrest that remains plagued by corruption, mismanagement and often dilapidated infrastructure.

In 2021, dozens of people were killed in two separate fires that raged through hospital wards.

A previous major tragedy struck Mosul in 2019, when at least 100 people, primarily women and children, died when an overcrowded ferry sank in the Tigris river.

The bride and groom survived but lost numerous family members, including the bride’s entire family and the groom’s mother. Picture: Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP

Among the mourners at the Al-Tahera church was Riad Bahnam, 53, who came to pray for his sister-in-law and his six-year-old great-niece, who died in the flames.

He likened the fire to “the tragedy of the boat in Mosul” and said the wedding had been a moment of “joy which turned into sadness and anger”.

Bahnam voiced anger at the “human error” he blamed for the deadly tragedy that heaped suffering on the small community.

Any official “who has committed negligence in giving the required authorisations to the owner is also responsible,” he charged.

“They are supposed to demand compliance with safety standards.”