In Photos: Families of Iraq wedding fire victims hold first funerals
The blaze overtook a Bakhdida event hall during an Assyrian wedding, shocking a local community already picking up the pieces of ISIS invasion.
The Word | Sept. 28, 2023
Masses of mourners flooded the Syriac Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in the Hamdaniya district in Iraq’s Nineveh province Wednesday to bid farewell to the victims of the fire that ravaged an Assyrian wedding in Bakhdida, Iraq.
At least 94 were killed in the blaze in the moonlit hours of Wednesday morning, according to official reports. The death toll continues to fluctuate as counts are revised and victims are identified.
Wednesday’s procession reportedly included 48 burials, with 34 on Thursday. More are expected to take place in the coming days.
Several officials of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Assyrian Church of the East, including ADM Secretary General Yacoob G. Yaqo and ACOE Patriarch Mar Awa Royel, attended the procession.
Masses attended the first funeral procession Thursday. More funerals are expected to take place. (Photo/Allen Kakony)
On Wednesday, Iraqi state media reported 94 total deaths. Officials expect that number to rise. (Photo/Allen Kakony)
Church officials from multiple denominations attended the funeral procession Thursday. Once considered Iraq’s largest Christian town, Bakhdida is home to a dense population of Assyrians. (Photo/Allen Kakony)
Clergy lead prayer at the funeral procession in the Hamdaniya district of Iraq’s Nineveh governorate. (Photo/Allen Kakony)
Family members bid farewell to those lost in the fire. (Photo/Allen Kakony)
A reported 48 were buried Wednesday at a cemetery of the Church of the Resurrection in Bakhdida. The church suffered severe destruction by ISIS attacks in 2014 that left the town largely empty. (Photo/Allen Kakony)