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100 Die, 150 Injured As Fire Breaks Out At Wedding In Iraq

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No less than 100 people have been killed and more than 150 injured after a fire broke out during a wedding at an event hall in Al-Hamdaniyah town of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province.

Hundreds of people were celebrating in Al-Hamdaniyah when fire tore through the venue late on Tuesday evening.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but early reports say it broke out after fireworks were lit and inflammable panels in the venue might have fuelled the flames, causing parts of the ceiling to catch fire and fall.

“The fire led to the collapse of parts of the hall as a result of the use of highly flammable, low-cost building materials that collapsed within minutes when fire breaks out,” Iraq’s civil defence directorate stated.

It was not clear if the bride and the groom were among the victims. Initial reports in Iraqi media said they had died in the blaze, later reporting that they were alive but were being treated for burns.

A photo posted by Nina showed dozens of firefighters battling the fire, and pictures from local journalists on social media show the charred-out remains of inside the event hall.

Firefighters were seen climbing over the wreckage of the building in search of survivors on Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses said hundreds of people were there celebrating when the building caught fire at around 10:45 local time (19:45 GMT) on Tuesday.

“We saw the f;re pulsating, coming out of the hall. Those who managed got out and those who didn’t got stuck. Even those who made their way out were broken,” Imad Yohana, a 34-year-old who escaped the inferno, told an international news agency.

Another wedding guest, Rania Waad, who sustained a bụrn to her hand, said that as the bride and groom were slow dancing “fireworks started to climb to the ceiling, the whole hall went up in flames. We couldn’t see anything. We were suffocating, we didn’t know how to get out.”

The deputy governor of Nineveh, Hassan al-Allaq, told reporters that 113 people had been confirmed dead, while state news agency INA put the death toll at at least 100, with 150 people injured.

The injured have been transferred to hospitals across the Nineveh region, the region’s governor told INA, suggesting that the number of deaths and injuries was not fixed and may rise.

Report says at the main hospital in Hamdaniyah, which is east of the region’s capital Mosul, dozens of people arrived to donate blood to help the injured.

Iraq’s prime minister posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had directed officials to “mobilise all efforts to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate incident”.

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Presidential Spokesman Goes On Indefinite Leave of Absence

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Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media & Publicity, has announced an indefinite leave of absence.

This decision comes after consulting with his family due to a worsening medical situation at home. Ngelale submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff on Friday, notifying him of his leave.

Ngelale’s leave affects his roles as Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

He expressed hope to return to full-time national service when circumstances permit. The leave of absence takes effect immediately, with no specified date for his return.

“I look forward to returning to full-time national service when time, healing, and fate permit,” Ngelale said. He respectfully asked for privacy for his family during this challenging time.

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One Of God’s Power Brokers, I’m Immune From Harm, Tragedy Or Untimely Death — Dr Chris Okafor

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Founder and senior pastor of the Grace Nation Church International, Dr Chris Okafor says his status as one of God’s major power brokers makes him immune from any untoward and unsavoury happenstances that could question his dedication and commitment to His service as an anointed minister.

According to him, his confidence derives from the immortal words taken from the Bible in Hebrews 11: 6 which says God is a “rewarder of those who dutifully and diligently serve him.”

The cleric, while expounding on the message, “Benefits of Soul-Winning” during a recent Sunday service said he had never at any time in his over 20-year work with God had cause to worry or fret over his safety or of those related to him because he considers himself immune from the buffettings of the devil and his children of wickedness.

This, he says, is because he has reached a level in his walk with God that he can be referred to as a power broker who must necessarily enjoy God’s protection at all times and in all ramifications.

“This might sound presumptuous to some people for me to say I’m a power broker in God’s kingdom. But when you have been privileged to be the conduit through which God’s virtues of prophecies, healing and deliverances have flowed all through the years, it is only right to state the obvious,” he said.

“The Bible is clear about the benefits that accrue to those who win souls to God’s kingdom. See, nothing God values more than soul winning. Soul-winning is to God what money is to man. I have come to discover that when we diligently apply ourselves to serving God in truth and in spirit, particularly working assiduously to ensure that we win souls to His kingdom, He pays our bills. He blesses us, he shields us from untoward happenings, and all kinds of tragedies and calamities.

“Above all, he makes us fruitful and elongates our lives. The scripture cannot be broken. God’s words in Exodus 23: 25 -26 remains true even till this day. It says, “So you shall serve the Lord, your God and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.

“No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”

“God has confirmed that scripture in my life on several occasions. A lot of people are aware how I survived a hail of bullets that ripped through the car I was traveling in when I was kidnapped on my way from a crusade in the eastern part of Nigeria some years ago.

“I survived more than 50 days of captivity in those kidnappers’ den. In all of that time, most people, including members of my congregation had given me up for dead. Yet, through God’s hands of mercy, I was rescued and I am still alive today, more than over a decade after the incident.

“What about another time I survived a plane crash? I was in a flight returning from one of the foreign crusades I went some years ago when our aircraft developed a fault. The situation was so bad that the plane was falling and plummeting dangerously towards the earth. Infact, we were already seeing the ground as everyone was in a distressed mood, calling for God’s intervention.

“I had stood up, and prayed a simple prayer, reminding God that no one who diligently served Him should see untimely and an unwarranted death. He heard me and we were all saved on that occasion.

“So, as a power broker — one who has offered himself as a vessel of honour for God’s wondrous works time and time again, it will be out of character for me to experience any form of harm, tragedy or untimely death,” he added.

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