One dead in Baghdad prison blaze

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - One person was killed and two others injured when a fire broke out at Baghdad Central Prison, formerly the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, during renovation work, the Iraqi justice ministry said on Tuesday.

Murad Saadi, the ministry’s media head, told Rudaw that “the fire broke out in an empty hall in the prison as it was being renovated,” adding that the casualties were all staff members.

Civil defense teams arrived to control the fire, Saadi said, and an investigation has been launched into the incident.

The facility was formerly the Abu Ghraib prison, which has a notorious reputation for widespread abuse, torture, and humiliation of Iraqi soldiers and civilians at the facility by US forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Fires are a perennial concern in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, where enforcement of fire and safety regulations is often inadequate. The risks increase significantly during the summer months, when extreme heat exacerbates the potential for electrical faults and other fire hazards.

Contributing factors include aging infrastructure, overcrowded public spaces, poor electrical systems, and a widespread lack of basic fire safety measures.