Nine Arrested After Iraq Wedding Fireworks Spark Reception Blaze That Killed at Least 100

Nine employees were arrested on Wednesday after a wedding hall inferno killed at least 100 and injured 150 more in northern Iraq, devastating the country’s small Christian community. 

Major Gen. Saad Maan, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said the Tuesday night fire was caused by "the lack of health and safety measures, the flammable materials used in the building and apparently an indoor firework” at the venue, called the Haitham Hall. 

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani declared three days of national mourning.

A Kurdish news channel aired footage showing fireworks shooting flames up from the floor of the event and setting a chandelier aflame during the reception.

The fire occurred in the Hamdaniya district of Iraq's Nineveh province, a predominantly Christian area just outside Mosul. The wedding hall was left a wreck of twisted metal and rubble.

"They were about to do a slow dance and then they lit up this thing for the dance which caught fire," one injured woman told Rudaw TV from a hospital gurney.

"They lit up fireworks. It hit the ceiling, which caught fire,” said a man hurt in the disaster. 

"The entire hall was on fire in seconds."

Panicked survivors searched area hospitals for their loved ones, including children.

One, Ayad Al-Qassab, told BBC he was looking for his nephew's wife, Rawan, and their children Charbel and Ghazal. "All three of them - we can’t find them," he said. 

Al-Qassab said his nephew "grabbed one of the children and ran out" as the fire erupted; the rest of his family was missing. 

Many of the survivors suffered catastrophic burns and the death toll was expected to rise, officials said. 

"The majority of them were completely burned and some others had 50 to 60% of their bodies burned," provincial health official Ahmed Dubardani said.

"This is not good at all. The majority of them were not in good condition."