SAQQEZ,Iran- A young couple had their happiest day of their lives torn apart by a gas explosion which ripped through their small wedding hall two weeks ago in Saqqez, western Iran.

Luqman Husseini and Narmin Karim were married on December 5, following a three-month engagement, before a fire killed 12 of their guests and wounded 48 others following a gas leak at Manga Shaw wedding hall.

The 12th victim passed away in hospital four days ago.

Saqqez is the second most populated city of Kurdistan Province in Western Iran, with an estimated 250,000 residents.

Karim Amin Zade, 48, the bride’s father said 900 guests were invited to the wedding and everything was proceeding as normal until the guests went to the second floor for dinner.

The father of four went on to recall that the owners of the hall dismissed concerns he expressed over potential fire hazards.

"As soon as we went upstairs I noticed a very messy network of hoses extended from three kerosene bottles to heaters to warm up the hall. I warned the owner of the hall, telling him that it is very dangerous,” he told Rudaw English.

Despite pleas to turn off the heaters, Zade was reassured by the owners who had been in the business for three years and “never had a problem.”

“I gave up and trusted him. In the middle of the dinner, a fire broke out from one of the hoses."

According to Zade there were no fire hoses to extinguish the blaze, leading to a stampede to leave the building.

“When I nearly reached the front door, the owner of the hall screamed 'run away, the hall will blow up."

" This incident made me forget that it was my daughter's wedding. All I remembered at this moment was a woman stuck in the stampede right next to me carrying out for help saying 'please do not leave me to die'.”

‘There were many guests piled up on one another. Everyone was trying to get themselves out of the stampede," he said. "After I got out, I sat down for a few seconds in the front courtyard of the hall. As I [got] up, I noticed a distant bride dress. Oh my God, it was my daughter pulling out her hair and crying," the father sighed while sobbing.

Rudaw English tried several times to speak to the bride, but was told by her father than her situation is “extremely bad.”

A four year-old girl was among those who died. The groom’s grandmother, uncle and eight other relatives also perished.

"My daughter is now feeling guilty and crying all the time. We have even taken her to many psychologists, but our efforts were all futile," he said.

-'We had a dream'-

"As any other couple out there, we had a dream to spend a wonderful night surrounded by our relatives and friends. But we never expected that the negligence of the authorities and owners of the wedding hall would stop the dream from coming true," the distraught groom, 28, told Rudaw English.

"I am still reeling from the shock of the nightmare we witnessed. I cannot sleep. I keep thinking of the horrific night," Husseini said.

He is urging the government and local authorities to take "toughest measures against those responsible for the incident."

"They must be dealt with according to law," he insisted.

The bride’s father reiterated the devastating impact of the event.

"They turned the happiest night of my daughter and our groom into a cemetery of the guests leaving deep grieves for us that are impossible to be alleviated," the distraught father said.


-'More incidents will happen'-

The tragedy at Manga Shaw Hall has reverberated across Iranian Kurdistan.

Some people have warned that similar incidents will happen again if necessary measures are not taken by the government.

"I regularly visit most of the Saqqez wedding halls because of my profession as a cameraman and I was all the time expecting that one day a fire incident will happen," Salah Arifi 38, an eyewitness of the incident, told Rudaw English.

"How come one warms up a wedding hall using kerosene bottles?"

He added this primitive heating system is applied across the city’s wedding halls.

"Other wedding halls are using the same primitive heating system. If not resolved, I am sure more of such incidents will happen," he warned.

-Who is responsible?-

Rudaw English tried to speak to several government departments and local organizations, including the Saqqez municipality and Engineers Syndicate.

All refused except one individual from the municipality, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Due to existence of a corrupt system and bribery in many government offices of the Kurdistan Province, the government does not care about whether or not there are safety measures taken in public places," the source told Rudaw English on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The source added there is no "legal measures to organize and standardize the work of public places. Therefore, no one monitors the quality of the works of public places like wedding halls."

He added business owners pay "bribes" in order for the government to turn a blind eye to their work.

Rudaw