Newlyweds Haneen and Ravan were enjoying their slow dance during their big day when tragedy struck on Tuesday, with flames falling from the ceiling and razing the building – killing more than 100
A bride is speechless and her new husband “dead inside” after they lost countless loved ones when their wedding venue became an inferno in Iraq this week.
Haneen’s mother and brother were among the 10 family members she lost while her husband Revan, 27, lost 15 relatives when the blaze tore through their packed wedding hall in Qaraqosh near the Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday. After the day that was supposed to be the happiest of their lives, Revan said: “Inside we are dead. We are numb. We are dead inside.” And 18-year-old Haneen “can’t speak” after the tragedy which has left her father in intensive care in hospital, Revan added.
Revan was also quizzed on the cause of the blaze, which was initially blamed on indoor fireworks. Speaking to Sky News, he said it may have started on the ceiling. He said: “It could be a short-circuit, I don’t know. But the fire started in the ceiling. We felt the heat⦠When I heard the crackling I looked at the ceiling. Then the ceiling, which was all nylon, started to melt. It only took seconds.”
Revan said there was a power cut just moments before their first dance. After the lights switched back on, he recalled seeing flames falling from the ceiling. The 27-year-old said he had to rescue his wife, who’d become stuck due to her lengthy wedding dress, by grabbing her and dragging her out of the blaze’s path.