A devastating fire erupted at a wedding hall in the Nineveh province of Iraq, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people and at least 350 injured individuals, local news sources reported on September 27.

The Iraqi Red Crescent confirmed the numbers earlier in the day, marking a significant increase from initial reports. The fire is the latest in a string of health and safety incidents in the country, which has suffered from a lack of investment in fire protection.

The incident occurred in the Hamdaniya district, located in the northwest of Iraq.

Early morning reports had initially estimated 100 fatalities and 150 injuries following the blaze at the wedding celebration.

Saif Al-Badr, the spokesperson for Iraq's Ministry of Health, stated that the hall was believed to have been hosting around 1,000 guests at the time of the incident.

A fire broke out during a wedding ceremony, with initial reports from Kurdish news channel Rudaw suggesting that pyrotechnics ignited a chandelier. The aftermath revealed scorched metal and debris scattered across the hall.

In the wake of the incident, injured individuals, including children, were seen at local hospitals, wrapped in bandages and being administered oxygen. Distraught families anxiously waited in hospital corridors while medical staff scrambled to provide more oxygen supplies.

Emergency services were on high alert, with ambulance sirens echoing for hours as they transported the injured.

Local television broadcasts displayed footage of the bride and groom on the dance floor, shocked by the sudden inferno. Their fate remained uncertain.

One survivor recounted from her hospital bed how the fire erupted during the couple's slow dance preparations. "They set off fireworks, which hit the ceiling and ignited it," a male survivor added. "Within moments, the entire hall was engulfed in flames."

Iraq's Prime Minister, Mohammad Shia' Al-Sudani, directed the country's health and interior ministries to make every effort to assist those affected by the tragic event.