ISTANBUL 

At least 61 people were killed and dozens more rescued after a fire tore through a shopping center in eastern Iraq on Thursday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.

The blaze broke out in a shopping center in Kut, the capital of Wasit governorate, south of Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement.

More than 45 people were rescued from the burning building, while others suffered injuries. Iraq’s official news agency INA, citing a medical source, put the death toll at 63, with 40 others injured.

The local authorities have initiated the legal proceedings against the owner of the shopping center, the governor said in a statement cited by INA.

The Interior Ministry instructed the formation of an investigation committee to identify the cause of the fire, INA added.