Iraqi PM sends group of Hamdaniya fire victims to Turkey for treatment

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Thursday sent a group of four injured in the tragedy of Hamdaniya to Turkey for treatment.

The statement made by the prime minister's office said that on Thursday evening “the first group of the people injured in the painful fire incident in Hamdaniya (Bakhdida) district, were sent for treatment to Turkey.”

The statement added that the group consisted of four injured and their companions and that they were transported after medical reports indicated that their health condition allowed them to travel abroad.

The injured and those escorting them are also accompanied by two doctors and eight paramedics and nurses.

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.

Witnesses from Hamdaniya told Rudaw English anonymously that there is not a single family in the district who does not have relatives who perished in the flames, with the small but tightly-knit Christian community of the district reeling from the disaster, on their knees at the scale of the devastation.

With hospitals above peak capacity in the town and medical supplies running out, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) dispatched several ambulances, as well as emergency medical teams and medical supplies, including much-needed burning ointments to Hamdaniya late into the night.
 
The degree of burns of most of the injured reached 50 percent, with the least-affected victims still having 40 percent of their bodies burned. Due to the severity of the injuries, hospitals remained at full capacity and no victims were discharged at a quick pace.

During a visit to an Erbil hospital treating victims of the incident, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani expressed his condolences for the “big humanitarian disaster” in Hamdaniya and thanked Kurdish health authorities for initiating a swift response to the tragedy.
 
“A serious investigation has to be conducted … it is truly a big disaster,” President Barzani said.

On Wednesday, Sudani directed the formation of an investigative committee to look into the incident in order to uncover the circumstances leading to the disaster and the aspects of negligence in the matter, as Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari blamed the Haytham banquet hall for lacking proper safety and security measures.

Iraq’s interior ministry on Wednesday announced the arrest of  14 individuals in relation to the tragic fire incident, adding that the findings of the investigations will be announced within 72 hours.

Iraqi civil defense said in a statement that “The fire caused parts of the ceiling to collapse due to the use of highly flammable, low-cost construction materials.”