A fire at a newly opened mall in eastern Iraq’s Wasit province killed more than 60 people, including women and children, Iraqi officials said Thursday.

Following the Israeli strikes on Syria' capital, Damascus, our verification specialists are assessing the damage A fire that tore through a shopping centre in the Iraqi city of Kut has left dozens dead,

The complex had only just opened and legal cases have been opened against its owners. The cause is so far unclear.

Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor in the cases against accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, has been fired. Although a reason for the dismissal was not immediately clear, she is also the daughter of James Comey, who is the former director of the FBI and a critic of President Donald Trump.

Video circulating online showed flames engulfing a five-storey building in the city of Al-Kut, with ambulances delivering casualties to hospitals until the early hours of Thursday.