A shopping mall under construction in the Karada area of Baghdad collapsed on Sunday morning, resulting in at least eight workers becoming trapped under the rubble and sustaining injuries, according to the local firefighting authority.
The workers who were trapped under the collapsed shopping mall in Baghdad's Karada area were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Kurdistan 24 reported that some of the injured workers were foreign nationals.
According to the firefighting authority, the collapse occurred while the workers were cementing the roof of the shopping mall. An investigation is now underway to determine the cause of the incident.
Due to inadequate building codes, the use of substandard construction materials, and insufficient safety measures for workers, Iraq has experienced similar incidents in the past.
January collapse killed three, injured nine others
Meanwhile, in January of 2023, a comparable incident in the northern province of Mosul caused the death of three individuals and injured nine others.
The January 5 collapse occurred in a western neighbourhood of Mosul when workers were casting the roof of the building with cement. The police command in Nineveh province said the building is owned by the city’s department in charge of the sewage system.
It said the nine injured were taken to a hospital in the city.
Large parts of Mosul were destroyed in 2017 during a monthslong battle against the Islamic State group that ended with Iraqi forces’ victory over IS in the city. The battle ended the extremists’ caliphate in Iraq in July of that year.
IS captured Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in June 2014 and held it until their defeat three years later.
Furthermore, in October 2022, at least 15 people were injured when a four-story building that housed national laboratories and pharmacies collapsed.