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Iraq
Steven embraces the portrait of his fiancee during her wake in Hamdaniya on September 28, 2023. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Forty-eight hours have passed since the catastrophic blaze in Hamdaniya district which turned a wedding into an inferno. Heartbreaking stories are being uncovered as the Christian community is reeling from the tragedy.
Some 1,000 people were attending the wedding ceremony of Haneen, 18, and Rivan, 28, at a banquet hall in Nineveh province’s Hamdaniya town late Tuesday when a fire, sparked by fireworks, spread throughout the hall, killing over 100 people and injuring hundreds of others.
The bride, Haneen, and the groom, Rivan, have been blamed by some relatives of the victims for the nightmare while authorities have accused the owner of the hall of failing to meet safety requirements. The owner of the hall and 13 other people have been arrested so far.
Despite being alive, the bride and groom lost many members of their families and the events that unfolded have taken a heavy toll on their mental health. They have refused to speak to the media.
Rivan told Rudaw off the record on Thursday that his house was attacked, and the window of his car was broken by some people believed to be relatives of the victims.
Haneen and Rivan, wearing black clothes, held each other's hands tightly when they recalled the nightmare.
Rivan does not want to leave his wife alone. He would ask her from now and then if what happened was real.
The situation in Hamdaniya has changed to the extent that a few shops are open and even the main hospital’s canteen was closed. Almost all families in the town have lost a loved person.
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.
The Assyrian Christian towns were retaken by Iraqi and Kurdish security forces in 2017 when ISIS was driven out of the area. Hamdaniya was visited by Pope Francis during his historic visit to Iraq in 2021.
Recovery has been slow, with many Christians unwilling to go back to their hometowns which their ancestors have called home for millennia, citing security concerns, the presence of foreign militias in the areas, and the lack of economic opportunities.
Daniel Wissam, 12, was injured in the incident. He does not feel the pain of his wound because he misses his loved ones. He is receiving treatment in a local hospital. His parents and sister were also injured but are hospitalised in Erbil.
“I want those negligent to be taken accountable,” he said.
Another sad story is of Steven and Maryam who were planning to hold their wedding ceremony in the same hall next week. However, Maryam died in the tragic incident.
Steven held the portrait of Maryam tightly on his chest during her wake and tears never stopped raining from his eyes. He is disheartened by the fact that his fiancee called him to rescue her, but he could not.
Additional reporting by Payam Sarbast and Bilind T. Abdullah
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