Hotel fire kills 40 in Iraq

BAGHDAD - At least 40 people died and 22 were injured when a fire broke out at a hotel in northern Iraq, health officials said Friday.

The blaze broke out Thursday evening at the Suma hotel in Sulaymaniyah, in the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

Four Americans, and several Italian and Canadian tourists as well as Iraqi Arabs and Kurds were among the victims, al-Arabiya news channel reported. City hotels are usually packed with tourists visiting during the summer.

At least three of the victims died jumping from the windows to escape the flames.

Sulaymaniyah security chief Qader Hama Jan ruled out that the accident was “an act of terrorism” and said he believed it was the result of an electrical fault, adding that investigation is under way.