The Supreme Judicial Council announced, today, Wednesday, that urgent measures were taken regarding al-Hamdaniyah incident in Nineveh.

A statement to the Judicial Council media said: “In implementation of the directives of the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Mosul Investigation Court, yesterday evening, Tuesday, took urgent measures after a fire occurred in Al-Hamdaniya in Nineveh Governorate.

The Mosul Investigation Court confirmed, according to the statement, that “the fire broke out at 11:30 pm on Tuesday, when the competent investigating judge moved to the scene of the accident, and he issued instructions to the security services to arrest those responsible for the accident, and some of the workers in the hall supervising and organizing the wedding stage and setting up fireworks were arrested that were the main cause of the fire in the hall, which was covered with flammable plastic.”

It explained, “surrounding the ceiling of the hall with highly flammable fabrics was also a cause of the fire, which caused the ceiling to catch fire and the power to go out, and there was no way out after the main door of the hall was closed,” pointing out that “the emergency door was small and hidden due to the large number of invitees inside.” No one reached the hall, as the fire caused panic and a stampede and spread rapidly, causing the death of more than 100 people and the injury of about 150 people, who are in serious condition.”

The court continued, "The investigating judge conducted an examination of the scene of the accident, and recorded the statements of the 9 defendants. Arrest and search warrants were issued against the owner of the hall, called Samir Sulaqa the supervisor responsible for organizing the hall, called Martin Essam, in accordance with the provisions of Article 342/1, 2, and 4 of the Penal Code."

The owner of the hall, Samir Sulaqa, and the rest of the fugitive defendants surrendered themselves to the security services in Erbil and were received by the security services and transported to the city of Mosul to have their statements judicially recorded.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency