A massive fire tore through an Iraqi shopping mall, killing at least 61 people. According to one survivor, the fire started when an air conditioner blew.

The fire at the recently completed six-story Corniche Hypermarket Mall in Kut, where men, women, and children were reportedly shopping last night, has prompted authorities to initiate an inquiry.

Horrible footage showed the block enveloped in smoke and flames as the fire reportedly started on the building’s first floor and spread throughout the entire block.

People can be seen on the roof as the flames spread up the building in terrifying video that has been making the rounds on social media. It is unclear whether they were rescued.

Firefighters rescued a number of individuals from the structure, local media reports. Until 4 a.m. local time, ambulances continued to transport victims to the hospital.

Firefighters are still on the site of the structure, which is fully charred and burned out in these horrifying photos of the wreckage taken this morning.

In the ruins of the structure, searchers were still looking for the missing this morning.

There are’many unidentifiable remains,’ according to a medical source, and the deceased are reportedly men, women, and children.

“The tragic fire claimed the lives of 61 innocent citizens, most of whom suffocated in bathrooms, and among them 14 charred bodies yet to be identified,” the interior ministry of Iraq stated in a statement.

The interior ministry reported that more than 45 individuals who were trapped within the five-story structure, which houses a restaurant and a grocery, were rescued by civil defence teams.

According to reports, the fire began on the first floor of the building late on Wednesday and quickly spread across the entire structure.