Current:Home > MarketsIraqi Christian religious leaders demand an international investigation into deadly wedding fire -WealthRoots Academy
Iraqi Christian religious leaders demand an international investigation into deadly wedding fire
View
Date:2025-04-14 09:51:00
BAGHDAD (AP) — Christian religious leaders in northern Iraq called for an international investigation Monday into a deadly wedding fire that killed more than 100 people last week and slammed the government’s probe, which had blamed the blaze on negligence and lack of precautionary measures.
An Iraqi Syriac Catholic priest, meanwhile, said widespread corruption in the country and the influence of armed militias on the government was one of the factors that enabled the fire.
Father Boutros Sheeto, spoke to The Associated Press over the phone from the town of Qaraqosh, where five members of his family, including his Iraqi-American sister, were buried on Monday morning. He claimed the fire was “intentional,” without offering any evidence.
Scores of panicked guests surged for the exits on Tuesday night in the Haitham Royal Wedding Hall in the predominantly Christian area of Hamdaniya in Nineveh province after the ceiling panels above a pyrotechnic machine burst into flames.
Iraq released the results of its probe on Sunday saying unsafe fireworks were the main reason that caused the fire that killed 107 and injured 82. Several local officials in Nineveh were also subjected to “administrative measures” because of negligence.
“We reject the idea that the cause of the fire was an accident,” Sheeto said. “We are confident that it was intentional and therefore we demand an international investigation.”
Ten of his relatives, including his sister Faten Sheeto who had traveled to Iraq from her home in Arizona to attend the wedding were killed by the fire.
Iraqi media quoted Chaldean Catholic Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako from Rome as saying the blaze “was the act of someone who sold his conscience and nation for a specific agenda.”
In July, Sako left his Baghdad headquarters and returned to northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region after Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid revoked a decree recognizing his position as patriarch of the Chaldeans, Iraq’s largest Christian denomination and one of the Catholic Church’s eastern rites.
Another Iraqi Christian religious leader, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Benedictus Younan Hanno said a probe should be done under “the supervision of international investigators,” and added that he and others among the Iraqi Christians do not accept the results of the Iraqi probe.
On Monday, the Nineveh Heath Department updated the death toll to 113, including 41 who have not been identified yet. It said 12 people who suffered severe burns were sent for treatment abroad and eight will follow.
The tragedy was the latest to hit Iraq’s Christian minority, which has dwindled to a fraction of its former size over the past two decades.
The decline started before the militant Islamic State group’s persecution of religious minorities after the extremists captured large parts of Iraq in 2014. Christians were among groups targeted by militants as security broke down after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.
The number of Christians in Iraq today is estimated at 150,000, compared to 1.5 million in 2003. Iraq’s total population is over 40 million.
___
Mroue reported from Beirut
veryGood! (82288)
Related
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Rafael dissolves into a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico after hitting Cuba as a hurricane
- Sports are a must-have for many girls who grow up to be leaders
- Deebo Samuel explains 'out of character' sideline altercation with 49ers long snapper, kicker
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- ‘Heretic’ and Hugh Grant debut with $11 million, but ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ tops box office again
- Report: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence could miss rest of season with shoulder injury
- World War II veteran reflects on life as he turns 100
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- Inside Dream Kardashian's Sporty 8th Birthday Party
Ranking
- Bodycam footage shows high
- One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
- Week 10 fantasy football rankings: PPR, half-PPR and standard leagues
- Melissa Gilbert recalls 'painful' final moment with 'Little House' co-star Michael Landon
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- The Army’s answer to a lack of recruits is a prep course to boost low scores. It’s working
- Inside Dream Kardashian's Sporty 8th Birthday Party
- Are Ciara Ready and Russell Wilson Ready For Another Baby? She Says…
Recommendation
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Wicked Director Jon M. Chu Reveals Name of Baby Daughter After Missing Film's LA Premiere for Her Birth
Climate Advocacy Groups Say They’re Ready for Trump 2.0
CRYPTIFII Introduce
South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
Is Veterans Day a federal holiday? Here's what to know for November 11
Taylor Swift touches down in Kansas City as Chiefs take on Denver Broncos
Diddy's ex-bodyguard sues rape accuser for defamation over claims of 2001 assault