The security forces of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, by order of the Iraqi government, have arrested the owner of a wedding hall in Al-Hamdaniya District in Nineveh governorate where about 100 people died in a fire, Iraqi media reported on Wednesday.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry issued arrest orders for several people, including the wedding hall’s owner, Samir Suleiman Karume Ravo Aso, after which he was arrested in the Erbil governorate and handed over to the ministry, media reported.
Later in the day, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said security authorities had detained 14 people involved in the incident. The ministry pledged to announce the results of the investigation within 72 hours.
About 900 people were in the wedding hall where the fire broke out, the ministry said.
Earlier reports citing the Iraqi Interior Ministry, detailed that many people had died because the emergency exits in the wedding hall were closed. At least 1,000 people were reportedly present at the celebration. One of the guests posted a
video on social media of the canopy on the ceiling in the center of the hall, which was crowded with tables with food, catching fire from floor fireworks
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon