Iraq is addicted to disasters. One can hardly come to another conclusion when looking at all the things that go wrong in the country. The latest low point is the fire in a wedding hall where more than a hundred people lost their lives.
The fire in Haytham Hall in the Christian Qaraqosh (also called Hamdaniya) began when, during the couple’s opening dance, fire works were ignited. These set the ceiling on fire, and soon the rest of the easily flammable materials with which the hall was built.
In the ensuing panic, more than a thousand people tried to escape through the kitchen door because they could not open the front door after the power went out. Only because a hole was made in the outer wall from outside are there so many survivors. The death toll is at 150, and many of the bodies have not been found. There are hundreds injured, most with severe burns. The bride and groom survived, losing many family members.
In the tight-knit Assyrian community, there is hardly any family that didn’t lose loved ones. The mourning is great in the town, which is barely rebuilt from the damage ISIS caused there.
Ferryboat
The disaster immediately reminds almost everyone in Iraq of similar incidents. For example, the ferry accident in Mosul four years ago. Despite warnings that the Tigris was dangerously high due to rainfall, the owner kept the ferry in service. It was a holiday, and he didn’t want to lose the patronage to his entertainment island in the river. The ferry sank, and nearly a hundred people died. Some victims have never been found.
What the two have in common is the lack of awareness by the owners of the risks to which they exposed their customers. Perhaps they didn’t care. But in both cases, they had no trouble ignoring warnings, breaking rules, and bribing officials to enable this.
In both cases, ministers and even the Iraqi Prime Minister immediately traveled to the disaster site, where they faced angry citizens. These held them responsible for the corruption that, in both cases, underlay the disaster.
But in Qaraqosh, the anger was also caused by the lack of medicines in the hospitals faced with the task of caring for so many burn patients at once. Without collections by volunteers, they couldn’t have provided the care they needed. Many have been flown to Turkey for treatment.
Politics
The wedding hall had permission for the use of indoor fireworks. Nobody wonders how that is possible, because the owner’s name opens all such doors. Just like in Mosul then, politics plays a role now as well. The Christian region of Nineveh is currently controlled by the pro-Iranian Christian Babylon Brigades. Leader Ryan al-Kildany (who is on the US sanctions list) is said to be one of the four owners of the hall.
I have already written about the conflict between the church and the militia, but at the geopolitical level, the conflict between Al-Kildany and the Kurdish KDP is important. The Kurds had administrative control of the region for several years but failed to protect it against ISIS. The two now accuse each other of negligence.
According to the KDP, the militia’s economic department approved the building, even though it contained too many flammable materials and had too few emergency exits. A family member of Al-Kildany in the Babylon Brigades points out that the owner lives in Kurdish Erbil and that he received a building permit from the KDP authorities in 2012.
How complicated the relations in the region are is evident from this video where an Assyrian priest thanks the commander of Shia led Hashd forces for their immediate response. The Shabak 30th Brigade (the second militia active in the region) is said to have been first to respond and to have saved hundreds of lives.
Arrested
Fourteen people were arrested after the fire, including one of the owners who tried to flee the city. An arrest warrant has been issued against the other three.
Four years ago, the corrupt governor of Nineveh was forced to resign and has been tried. Consequently, there are now voices saying that the current governor Al-Jibouri, despite being loved for his decisiveness, deserves a similar fate.
However, the problem is bigger than the culprits behind such disasters. Iraqis have a different perception of danger than we do in Europe. A simple example: seat belts are mandatory for the front seats of cars in Iraq, but they are almost never used. To put an end to the annoying bleeping noise, cab drivers even clip in a single buckle. Without ever being stopped for that. In the back, really no one ever uses them.
Another example. It is common knowledge that a water pipe is even more damaging to health than cigarettes. Yet the number of cafes where they are offered cannot be counted in Iraq, and many young men sit for hours at the back of them, sucking in the smoke.
Firing in the air
Every time, warnings are issued about the risks of celebrations which involve firing indiscriminately into the air. It is now even punishable by law. Yet it happens almost every time an important soccer victory is celebrated. In which, therefore, the habit goes on making victims.
And one last example: in Hawija (that place that was largely destroyed by a Dutch bomb in 2015) some 150 guests contracted food poisoning at a wedding last week. When would the kitchens where that food came from have last been checked for hygiene? I actually don’t think ever.
That a wedding hall has too few emergency exits or even none at all, insufficient fire extinguishers, no emergency lighting – it is unthinkable in the EU because it is checked. That a ferry sails at high tide, with cables that are about to snap – that too would not happen in the EU because the understanding is that rules are there to keep people safe.
In Iraq, rules date often from the days of the previous regime, or are even older. Or they are put in place for reasons that citizens do not understand – or simply because they make money for the government. So it is very common in Iraq to bend the rules. Control is hardly there anyway. And because of the corruption, it is simple enough to pay officials to turn a blind eye.
Responsibility
Disasters like those in Mosul and Qaraqosh will continue to happen. Because the government is not there for the citizen, and rules are made from wrong principles. But also because after years of authoritarian rule, people are still not used to the fact that they themselves also have a responsibility.
This applies to the owners of the ferry and the wedding hall. But also to its users. I have never seen anyone in Iraq check that there was an emergency exit, or that the fire extinguishers were not past their date (which is usually the case). That the bride and groom were threatened because they were held responsible for the tragedy says a lot about how blame is usually placed elsewhere in Iraq.
We go with God, say motorists who take too many risks (and there are many) on the road. Who is going to teach the Iraqis that this is how they bring disasters upon themselves that could be prevented with the right attitude and measures?
