Dhaka, July 18 -- A huge fire tore through a large shopping center in Iraq's eastern city of Kut on Wednesday, killing dozens of people and devastating a community.
At least 61 people - including men, women and children - died in the blaze at the five-story Al-Kornish Hypermarket, and dozens more were rescued from the burning building, according to a statement from Iraq's Ministry of Interior on Thursday morning.
"This heartbreaking fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom died from suffocation in the bathrooms due to the heavy smoke," the interior ministry said, adding that it was "a deeply tragic incident that has shaken (Iraq's) collective conscience."
The bodies of 14 people remained unidentified, it said. People ...