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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than a month after the tragic Hamdaniya wedding inferno that claimed the lives of over 100 people and wounded hundreds more, survivors are still demanding a fair and transparent investigation against who they call "the criminals" behind the tragedy.
Yashu' Elias, 69, a survivor, has 25 percent of his body burned and lost his son, daughter, and son-in-law in the blaze.
He said that he had not received adequate medical treatment while angrily demanding a transparent investigation into the deadly incident.
"We do not need any financial compensation. I do not need money. All we demand is our rights," Elias told Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran. "We want the criminal to be brought to justice. We are calling for transparent investigations."
"This is it. We do not want them to try innocent people and then declare them criminals. We do not want that."
In the massive wedding fire, 132 people lost their lives including six infants, 41 teenagers, 76 men and women, and nine elderly people.
Of 170 wounded individuals, 15 of them still receive medical treatment in neighboring Turkey.
Raad Toma is one of the wounded who needs medical checkups every 72 hours. He stayed at a hospital in Istanbul for 15 days before returning to his hometown, Hamdaniya.
His wife is in critical condition and still receives treatment in Istanbul.
"My grandchild died in the incident. My wife still receives medical treatment in Turkey. She has 65 percent of her body burned," Toma said, slamming Baghdad authorities for not reaching out to them.
Days after the incident, the Iraqi government attributed the deadly blaze to fireworks displayed during the wedding, something that locals and survivors of the tragedy strongly rejected and demanded an international investigation into the matter.
In war-scarred Iraq, safety standards are often ignored as substandard buildings, such as Hamdaniya’s Haytham Hall, lack adequate fire extinguishers and emergency facilities such as evacuation doors.
Hamdaniya is one of Iraq’s only Christian-majority districts, located in the Nineveh Plains near Mosul, a historic Assyrian region. Like many Christian towns in the Nineveh Plains, it was taken over by Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists during their brazen sweep of northern Iraq, where they declared a so-called “caliphate” and inflicted grave atrocities on minority groups, including Christians.
Yashu' Elias, 69, a survivor, has 25 percent of his body burned and lost his son, daughter, and son-in-law in the blaze.
He said that he had not received adequate medical treatment while angrily demanding a transparent investigation into the deadly incident.
"We do not need any financial compensation. I do not need money. All we demand is our rights," Elias told Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran. "We want the criminal to be brought to justice. We are calling for transparent investigations."
"This is it. We do not want them to try innocent people and then declare them criminals. We do not want that."
In the massive wedding fire, 132 people lost their lives including six infants, 41 teenagers, 76 men and women, and nine elderly people.
Of 170 wounded individuals, 15 of them still receive medical treatment in neighboring Turkey.
Raad Toma is one of the wounded who needs medical checkups every 72 hours. He stayed at a hospital in Istanbul for 15 days before returning to his hometown, Hamdaniya.
His wife is in critical condition and still receives treatment in Istanbul.
"My grandchild died in the incident. My wife still receives medical treatment in Turkey. She has 65 percent of her body burned," Toma said, slamming Baghdad authorities for not reaching out to them.
Days after the incident, the Iraqi government attributed the deadly blaze to fireworks displayed during the wedding, something that locals and survivors of the tragedy strongly rejected and demanded an international investigation into the matter.
In war-scarred Iraq, safety standards are often ignored as substandard buildings, such as Hamdaniya’s Haytham Hall, lack adequate fire extinguishers and emergency facilities such as evacuation doors.
Hamdaniya is one of Iraq’s only Christian-majority districts, located in the Nineveh Plains near Mosul, a historic Assyrian region. Like many Christian towns in the Nineveh Plains, it was taken over by Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists during their brazen sweep of northern Iraq, where they declared a so-called “caliphate” and inflicted grave atrocities on minority groups, including Christians.
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