Four dead, including 2-year-old girl, pulled from rubble after Iraq building collapse

Civil Defence Directorate in Baghdad says 13 people were rescued from lab and pharmacy complex

Rescuers pulled the bodies of a woman, her two-year-old daughter, and a man from the rubble of a building in Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraq's Civil Defence Directorate said.

The body of a security guard was recovered on Sunday, the day after the four-storey commercial building collapsed. Authorities said 13 people were rescued.

The woman was carrying out a routine lab test before a chemotherapy session scheduled for Wednesday. Her husband was outside buying food.

Around noon, rescuers found the body of the last victim, a man from the province of Kut, south of Baghdad.

“The Civil Defence has ended the search and rescue operation that lasted for 75 hours for those trapped under the rubble,” said Maj Gen Kadhim Bohan, head of the Civil Defence Directorate.

Thirteen people were rescued shortly after the collapse of the building in Karrada, the Iraqi capital's commercial centre.

The building, which housed medical clinics, laboratories and pharmacies, was opened in 2019 as a government-run investment project.

There were few people inside at the time of the collapse because of pro-reform street protests that prompted security forces to close main roads.

Authorities quickly launched an investigation. No details were made public, but officials blamed the owner for not obeying construction codes.

An increase in building collapses in Iraq in recent years has been blamed on widespread corruption, poor government regulation and cheap materials.

To cut costs, some companies submit plans to local authorities that have been drawn to minimum safety standards, but then change them during construction.