A bride and groom, whose wedding celebration ended in disaster after a fire killed more than 100 of their guests, have told Sky News they are “dead inside” following the tragedy.
Revan said he lost 15 members of his family in the fire, adding his bride “can’t speak” after the loss of 10 of her relatives, including her mother and brother. Her father is also in a critical condition.
“It’s true that we’re sitting here in front of you alive. But inside we are dead. We are numb. We are dead inside,” he said.
Image: Revan, 27, and Haneen, 18, say they can no longer stay in their hometown
The wedding on Tuesday night is understood to have had around 900 guests, with the fire starting at around 10.45pm.
While initial reports suggested fireworks lit for the couple’s slow dance were to blame for the blaze, Revan believes the fire somehow started in the ceiling.
“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,” he said.
Image: Revan and Haneen on their wedding day
“Then the ceiling, which was all nylon, started to melt. It only took seconds.”
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Video footage shared shortly after the tragedy shows the couple dancing as burning pieces of material fell from the roof.
It was during the dance, he said, a power cut took place – and when the electricity came back on he “saw fire” in the ceiling.
It was then that people started to “scream” and “run away”.
He went on to describe helping his wife who couldn’t walk because of her wedding gown.
“I grabbed my wife and I began to drag her. I kept dragging her and trying to get her out of the kitchen entrance. As people were fleeing, people were trampling on her. Her legs are injured.”
Revan said there was only one fire extinguisher, which “didn’t work”.
Describing how events unfolded, he said two small fireworks were lit as they started to dance, followed by four more a few minutes later.
Image: An image from inside the venue before the fire. Pic: Rudaw
Image: An image of the ceiling decoration as the fire takes hold
He said his father had asked questions about the risk of such fireworks causing sparks which could “land on the bride’s gown” and “catch fire” but had been told by the hall owners that the fireworks were electric, so “you could put your hand or even plastic [on it] and it won’t burn”.
The young couple can only mourn. “Our relatives, our friends, our loved ones are all gone.. Two days ago we buried her [Haneen’s] uncle and his two daughters. Yesterday we buried her other uncle. Today we buried his daughter and we buried her mother. Her father is in a critical condition. We don’t know what his condition is,” Revan said.
“My aunt died. My sister had burns. Her husband has burns all over his body. My uncle lost 7 members. So many people. And every day we hear more news.”
The disaster means they can no longer stay in their hometown. “That’s it, we can’t live here anymore. We can’t live here anymore. I mean every time we try to have some happiness, something tragic happens to us and destroys the happiness. So, it’s best for us to leave,” he said.
He added: “On the wedding night… why did this happen? What did we do? Why did this happen?”
Highly flammable building materials have been pointed to by both civil defence officials and state media as a potential contributory factor to the building’s rapid collapse.
Following the fire, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al Sudani said on social media that he had contacted the provincial governor of Nineveh and his country’s home and health ministers, directing them “to mobilise all efforts to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate incident”.
Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya, is a Christian town, and survived Islamic State occupation.
The IDF has admitted to mistakenly identifying a convoy of aid workers as a threat – following the emergence of a video which proved their ambulances were clearly marked when Israeli troops opened fire on them.
The bodies of 15 aid workers – including eight medics working for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) – were found in a “mass grave” after the incident, according to the head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Jonathan Whittall.
The Israeli military originally claimed an investigation found the vehicles did not have any headlights or emergency signals and were therefore targeted as they looked “suspicious”.
But video footage obtained by the PRCS, and verified by Sky News, showed the ambulances and a fire vehicle clearly marked with flashing red lights.
In a briefing from the IDF, they said the ambulances arrived in the Tel Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah shortly after a Hamas police vehicle drove through.
Image: Palestinians mourning the medics after their bodies were recovered. Pic: Reuters
An IDF surveillance aircraft was watching the movement of the ambulances and notified troops on the ground. The IDF said it will not be releasing that footage.
When the ambulances arrived, the soldiers opened fire, thinking the medics were a threat, according to the IDF.
The soldiers were surprised by the convoy stopping on the road and several people getting out quickly and running, the IDF claimed, adding the soldiers were unaware the suspects were in fact unarmed medics.
An Israeli military official would not say how far away troops were when they fired on the vehicles.
The IDF acknowledged that its statement claiming that the ambulances had their lights off was incorrect, and was based on the testimony from the soldiers in the incident.
The newly emerged video footage showed that the ambulances were clearly identifiable and had their lights on, the IDF said.
The IDF added that there will be a re-investigation to look into this discrepancy.
Image: The clip is filmed through a vehicle windscreen – with three red light vehicles visible in front
Addressing the fact the aid workers’ bodies were buried in a mass grave, the IDF said in its briefing this is an approved and regular practice to prevent wild dogs and other animals from eating the corpses.
The IDF could not explain why the ambulances were also buried.
The IDF said six of the 15 people killed were linked to Hamas, but revealed no detail to support the claim.
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1:22
Bodies of aid workers found in Gaza
The newly emerged footage of the incident was discovered on a phone belonging to one of the workers who was killed, PRCS president Dr Younis Al Khatib said.
“His phone was found with his body and he recorded the whole event,” he said. “His last words before being shot, ‘Forgive me, mom. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives’.”
Sky News used an aftermath video and satellite imagery to verify the location and timing of the newly emerged footage of the incident.
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2:43
Aid worker attacks increasing
It was filmed on 23 March north of Rafah and shows a convoy of marked ambulances and a fire-fighting vehicle travelling south along a road towards the city centre. All the vehicles visible in the convoy have their flashing lights on.
The footage was filmed early in the morning, with a satellite image seen by Sky News taken at 9.48am local time on the same day showing a group of vehicles bunched together off the road.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hit out at the US over its “weak” response to lethal Russian attacks on his hometown on Friday.
President Zelenskyy posted a lengthy and emotional statement on X about Russia’s strikes on Kryvyi Rih, which killed 19 people.
Meanwhile Ukrainian drones hit an explosives factory in Russia’s Samara region in an overnight strike, a member of Ukraine’s SBU security service told Reuters.
In his post, President Zelenskyy accused the United States of being “afraid” to name-check Russia in its comment on the attack.
“Unfortunately, the reaction of the American Embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people – and such a weak reaction,” he wrote on X.
“They are even afraid to say the word “Russian” when talking about the missile that killed children.”
America’s ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had written on X: “Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih.
“More than 50 people injured and 16 killed, including 6 children. This is why the war must end.”
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5:49
Strike on Zelenskyy’s home city
President Zelenskyy went on in his post to say: “Yes, the war must end. But in order to end it, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade.
“We must not be afraid to put pressure on the only one who continues this war and ignores all the world’s proposals to end it. We must put pressure on Russia, which chooses to kill children instead of a ceasefire.”
Grandmother ‘burned to death in her home’
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s defense council, said the missile attack, followed by a drone attack, had killed 19 people, including nine children.
“The Iskander-M missile strike with cluster munitions at the children’s playground in the residential area, to make the shrapnel fly further apart, killed 18 people.
“One grandmother was burnt to death in her house after Shahed’s direct hit.”
Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck a military gathering in a restaurant – an assertion rebutted by the Ukrainian military as misinformation.
“The missile hit right on the street – around ordinary houses, a playground, shops, a restaurant,” President Zelenskyy wrote.
Mr Zelenskyy also detailed the child victims of the attack including “Konstantin, who will be 16 forever” and “Arina, who will also be 7 forever”.
The UK’s chief of the defence staff Sir Tony Radakin said he had met the Ukrainian leader on Friday, along with French armed forces leader General Thierry Burkhard.
“Britain and France are coming together & Europe is stepping up in a way that is real & substantial, with 200 planners from 30 nations working to strengthen Ukraine’s long term security,” Sir Tony wrote.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.