Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari announced today, Wednesday, the handover of the owner of the hall in Al-Hamdaniya from the Kurdistan Region. This hall witnessed a humanitarian disaster after it caught fire during a wedding celebration. Previously, the Kurdistan Region Security Council had announced the arrest of the hall owner. The council stated in a communiqué that "the federal ministry of interior issued a warrant for the arrest of several individuals, including the hall owner Samir Suleiman Karoumi Rafu Asu." The statement added that the Kurdistan Region's security in Erbil managed to arrest the hall owner and hand him over to the Ministry of Interior of the Iraqi federal government.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shia' al-Sudani had taken a series of measures following the incident, asking relevant health authorities to treat the injured and provide the highest level of care, based on the treatment needs within Iraq or abroad. He also established an investigative committee to reveal the circumstances of the incident, to determine its causes and identify any shortcomings.
Al-Sudani requested that relevant authorities prepare a list of the victims and their families to ensure their legal and moral rights and to compensate them financially. He instructed all ministries and provinces to conduct inspections on buildings and verify safety procedures, holding responsible parties accountable for any deficiencies, and to increase efforts for periodic inspections of large buildings, malls, restaurants, event halls, and hotels, ensuring the presence of safety measures, identifying potential hazards, and directing their remediation, as well as identifying buildings that are non-compliant.
Simultaneously, Iraq announced a state of mourning in all state institutions for three days, in tribute to the victims who were buried today and in solidarity with their families.
The Iraqi army, in turn, announced that "based on the instructions of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and through the Joint Operations Command, and under the supervision of Lieutenant General Qais al-Muhammadawi, all available capacities and resources in all security force components have been mobilized to provide services to the families of the missing victims in the Al-Hamdaniya incident and to the injured." Three helicopters have been allocated for air ambulance services by the health sector if the need arises to transport any injured person from Nineveh to any location for treatment.
For his part, Health Minister Saleh al-Hasnawi confirmed today, Wednesday, the formation of an emergency cell regarding the Al-Hamdaniya fire incident. He told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The degrees of injuries vary from moderate to severe and very severe burns, with some cases of suffocation without burns." He indicated that "health staff are doing their utmost." Al-Hasnawi reported that "the latest statistics of the incident recorded the death of 93 individuals and the injury of 101 others due to burns and suffocation."
