Onlookers watched as a large fire erupted in a northern Iraqi wedding hall on Tuesday evening, leaving nearly 100 people dead.

Survivors described the blaze erupting just as the bride and groom began their slow dance, and a pyrotechnic show went off.

The around 250 panicked guests in the the Haitham Royal Wedding Hall in the predominantly Christian Hamdaniya area stampeded for the exits as flaming decorations and pieces of ceiling rained down on them.

The Iraqi Health Minister on Wednesday said around 100 people were killed, with the toll expected to rise with at least 100 injured, including many critically burned.

The tragedy Tuesday night was the latest to hit Iraq’s Christian minority, which has dwindled to a fraction of its former size over the past decade in the face of militant attacks.

Authorities said highly flammable building materials contributed to the disaster.

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