Baghdad shuts down 700 businesses over safety violations after deadly Kut fire

BAGHDAD — Authorities in Baghdad’s Rusafa district have shuttered around 700 commercial projects in Shorja and surrounding areas for failing to meet civil defense safety standards, officials said Sunday.

The closures were carried out under Civil Defense Law No. 4 of 2014, according to Hassan Ibrahim, head of the Civil Defense Directorate in Rusafa. “These closures are executed by order of the governor,” he told the Iraqi News Agency. “The projects are shut down for up to 15 days to ensure safety requirements are met.”

The move follows a fire at a Kut supermarket in Wasit governorate that killed 61 people and prompted a broader crackdown on public safety enforcement.

On July 18, Iraq’s Interior Ministry reported that 610 commercial and industrial facilities across the country had been closed for violating civil defense regulations.

Separately, the Ministry of Transport last week launched a nationwide inspection campaign targeting private riverboats to ensure compliance with safety protocols.