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

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud sent on Thursday a message of condolence to Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid over the victims of the fire that broke out in a shopping center in Kut city.

Photographs and videos on local media showed the five-story Corniche Hypermarket Mall engulfed in flames only a week after it had opened.

A massive fire in a hypermarket in al-Kut city in southern Iraq has left at least 69 people dead and 11 others missing, the city's health authorities and two police sources told Reuters on Thursday.

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 devastating fire at Corniche Hypermarket in al-Kut city, Iraq, resulted in at least 69 deaths and 11 people missing. The blaze, reportedly starting in the perfumes section, trapped many inside the building.

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,