Iraq
The Haytham Hall in Iraq's Hamdaniya district, which burned down during a packed wedding party and resulted in over 100 deaths. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nineveh’s forensics medicine department on Sunday said that DNA samples are being taken from families of the tragic Hamdaniya fire victims to identify 37 bodies at the morgues.
“DNA samples from the bodies that were not identified by their relatives were sent to Baghdad … which amounted to 37 bodies,” Shahed Arif Hamid, the director of forensics medicine in Nineveh province, told Rudaw.
Hamid said that the department has received 117 dead bodies since the first day of the tragedy, 70 of which were handed to their families after being identified.
The rest of the bodies remain unidentified due to the extreme degree of their burns, which deterred their distinguishable characteristics according to Hamid. Thus, DNA samples were taken from the bodies.
“The remaining bodies cannot be identified and DNA sampling is the only way for their identification,” she said.
For a DNA test to be conducted, samples from the dead bodies and a first-degree family member must match. However, some families are refusing the idea of giving samples.
“Only a part of the families came to me in order to give blood samples for matching. Some refuse the idea fundamentally. They do not want to come for us to take samples from them,” Hamid said, adding that only around 15 families have given blood samples.
DNA sampling and tests in Iraq are centralized due to a shortage of testing laboratories in most of the provinces, Arif said. The tests require a few days to yield results.
Over a hundred people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured late Tuesday when a fire erupted inside a banquet hall hosting a packed wedding in the Assyrian Christian-majority district of Hamdaniya, around 45 kilometers southeast of Iraq’s second-largest northern city of Mosul.
Iraq on Wednesday announced a three-day mourning period across the country for the victims of the tragic blaze, a call that was soon echoed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Funeral processions for dozens of the victims are being held in Hamdaniya since Wednesday.
Iraq’s interior ministry on Wednesday announced the arrest of 14 individuals in relation to the tragic fire incident and said they will announce the findings of the investigations within 72 hours.
However, the findings of the investigations remain unannounced as of Sunday morning.
“DNA samples from the bodies that were not identified by their relatives were sent to Baghdad … which amounted to 37 bodies,” Shahed Arif Hamid, the director of forensics medicine in Nineveh province, told Rudaw.
Hamid said that the department has received 117 dead bodies since the first day of the tragedy, 70 of which were handed to their families after being identified.
The rest of the bodies remain unidentified due to the extreme degree of their burns, which deterred their distinguishable characteristics according to Hamid. Thus, DNA samples were taken from the bodies.
“The remaining bodies cannot be identified and DNA sampling is the only way for their identification,” she said.
For a DNA test to be conducted, samples from the dead bodies and a first-degree family member must match. However, some families are refusing the idea of giving samples.
“Only a part of the families came to me in order to give blood samples for matching. Some refuse the idea fundamentally. They do not want to come for us to take samples from them,” Hamid said, adding that only around 15 families have given blood samples.
DNA sampling and tests in Iraq are centralized due to a shortage of testing laboratories in most of the provinces, Arif said. The tests require a few days to yield results.
Over a hundred people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured late Tuesday when a fire erupted inside a banquet hall hosting a packed wedding in the Assyrian Christian-majority district of Hamdaniya, around 45 kilometers southeast of Iraq’s second-largest northern city of Mosul.
Iraq on Wednesday announced a three-day mourning period across the country for the victims of the tragic blaze, a call that was soon echoed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Funeral processions for dozens of the victims are being held in Hamdaniya since Wednesday.
Iraq’s interior ministry on Wednesday announced the arrest of 14 individuals in relation to the tragic fire incident and said they will announce the findings of the investigations within 72 hours.
However, the findings of the investigations remain unannounced as of Sunday morning.
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