A devastating fire tore through a hypermarket in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, killing at least 50 people, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).

 

Videos shared widely on social media showed a five-storey building consumed by flames as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control.

 

The cause of the fire remains unclear, but local authorities have launched an investigation. “We have filed lawsuits against the owner of the building and the mall,” the governor of Wasit province told INA, adding that preliminary findings are expected within 48 hours.