A bride and groom, whose wedding celebration ended in disaster after a fire killed more than 100 of their guests, have told Sky News they are “dead inside” following the tragedy.

Revan, 27, and bride, Haneen, 18, survived the blaze, which started inside a packed wedding hall in Qaraqosh, in the Nineveh province of northern Iraq.

At least 150 others were also injured.

Revan told Sky News he lost 15 members of his family in the fire, adding his bride “can’t speak” after the loss of 10 of her relatives, including her mother and brother. Her father is also in a critical condition.

“It’s true that we’re sitting here in front of you alive. But inside we are dead. We are numb. We are dead inside,” he said.

The wedding on Tuesday night is understood to have had around 900 guests, with the fire starting at around 10.45pm.

While initial reports suggested fireworks lit for the couple’s slow dance were to blame for the blaze, Revan believes the fire somehow started in the ceiling.

“It could be a short-circuit, I don’t know. But the fire started in the ceiling. We felt the heat… When I heard the crackling I looked at the ceiling,” he said.

“Then the ceiling, which was all nylon, started to melt. It only took seconds.”

Video footage shared shortly after the tragedy shows the couple dancing as burning pieces of material fell from the roof.

It was during the dance, he said, a power cut took place – and when the electricity came back on he “saw fire” in the ceiling.

It was then that people started to “scream” and “run away”.

He went on to describe helping his wife who couldn’t walk because of her wedding gown.

“I grabbed my wife and I began to drag her. I kept dragging her and trying to get her out of the kitchen entrance. As people were fleeing, people were trampling on her. Her legs are injured.”

Revan said there was only one fire extinguisher, which “didn’t work”.

Describing how events unfolded, he said two small fireworks were lit as they started to dance, followed by four more a few minutes later.

He said his father had asked questions about the risk of such fireworks causing sparks which could “land on the bride’s gown” and “catch fire” but had been told by the hall owners that the fireworks were electric, so “you could put your hand or even plastic [on it] and it won’t burn”.

The disaster means they can no longer stay in their hometown. “That’s it, we can’t live here anymore. We can’t live here anymore. I mean every time we try to have some happiness, something tragic happens to us and destroys the happiness. So, it’s best for us to leave,” he said.

Read more from Sky News:
Iraq War 20 years on
Embassy stormed by protesters over planned Koran burning

He added: “On the wedding night… why did this happen? What did we do? Why did this happen?”

Highly flammable building materials have been pointed to by both civil defence officials and state media as a potential contributory factor to the building’s rapid collapse.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Following the fire, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al Sudani said on social media that he had contacted the provincial governor of Nineveh and his country’s home and health ministers, directing them “to mobilise all efforts to provide relief to those affected by the unfortunate incident”.

Qaraqosh, also known as Hamdaniya, is a Christian town, and survived Islamic State occupation.

Related posts:

What is Sharia law and how has the Taliban interpreted it? Ottawa police chief resigns as Trudeau invokes emergency powers to crack down on trucker protests Kim makes appearance as North Korea celebrates his late father’s birthday Earthquake hits popular holiday island of Madeira British journalist reveals he lost half a leg and a foot in bombing that killed two colleagues India bans wheat exports over risk to food security due to Ukraine war One man’s perilous mission to ease civilians’ plight on Ukraine frontline Argentina’s vice president jailed for corruption – but won’t actually head behind bars 100m-high wall of sand towers above Chinese region during storm UK defence spending as share of GDP falls despite Russia’s war in Ukraine Cat killing competition for children cancelled after backlash As Swiss glaciers melt at alarming rate, voters go to polls over ambitious plans to tackle climate change