Canadian believed killed in Iraqi hotel fire

A Canadian citizen is believed to be among the 29 people killed in an electrical fire that destroyed a five-storey hotel in northern Iraq. The chief of police in Sulaimaniyah said the fire started late Thursday, adding four women and four children were among the dead. Foreign affairs spokesman Alain Cacchione said the department had “received preliminary reports indicating that a Canadian citizen may be affected,” but added that no further information was available and said the department was monitoring the situation. In addition to the Canadian fatality, victims include people from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Venezuela and China, with some working for foreign oil companies. Sulaimaniyah, located 260 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, is the commercial capital of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region and the country’s second-largest city.

Toronto Star