Iraq investigators blame fatal wedding fire on ignored safety rules

Cairo [Egypt], October 2: Investigators in Iraq say a fire that killed more than a hundred people at a wedding party earlier this week was caused by a failure to observe safety rules, noting that the venue was overcrowded and did not have adequate emergency exits.
The blaze broke out Tuesday night at a packed hall in the town of Al Hamdaniya in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, leaving at least 107 people dead and 82 others injured, according to official figures.
The fire was triggered by fireworks, resulting in the collapse of the hall ceiling on the party-goers, Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al Shammari previously said.
Officials of a security committee tasked with investigating the incident released findings of their probe on Sunday, citing a host of flaws.
"The hall capacity can accommodate only 500 people, but around 600 people were evacuated from the hall [following the fire]," chief of the investigation panel, Major-General SaadFaleh, said at a press conference in Baghdad.
"There were shortcomings on the part of the hall owners," said KadhimBuhan, an advisor to the interior minister, and a member of the committee, according to Iraq's state news agency INA. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune