A huge fire has torn through a commercial building in Iraq’s eastern city of Kut, killing dozens of people, local authorities said Thursday.

A massive fire tore through a five-storey shopping mall in eastern Iraq’s al-Kut city, killing at least 60 people and leaving 11 missing. The blaze erupted overnight, trapping shoppers and staff as flames engulfed the building.

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

A fire tore through a shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut on Thursday, killing more than 50 people, medical sources told AFP. “We have more than 50 martyrs and many unidentified bodies,” a medical source said.

KUT, IRAQ: At least 61 people have been killed and many more are missing following a devastating fire that broke out at the newly opened Corniche Hypermarket Mall in the city of Kut, located in the Wasit governorate of eastern Iraq.

A fire engulfed a newly opened shopping center in eastern Iraq, killing more than 60 people, including 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,