HAMDANIYA, Iraq - Marya Asaad was a young girl who was enjoying the warm embrace of her father during a wedding ceremony in the Iraqi northern town of Hamdaniya on Tuesday when a fire raged in the banquet hall, killing her and over 100 other party-goers. Families have been bidding their last farewell to their loved ones in recent days as the corpses of the victims arrived in the town’s graveyard. Marya Asaad is a young victim of the tragedy. She was only a year and eight months old when the merciless blaze killed her. Her father was carrying her in his arms when she was burnt. He survived but lost his daughter in the panic. “My daughter loved me more than anyone. She used to be very eager to see me when I returned from work. She would wait for me near the gate and give me my clothes although she was young,” Asaad Qiryaqos said while holding her photo during a burial procession in the town. 102 dead bodies have been recorded by Mosul’s autopsy. 34 of them have yet to be identified, awaiting the results of DNA tests. All the 68 identified dead bodies have been buried. Benedictus Younan Hanno, Archbishop of the Syriac Catholic Church in Mosul and its vicinity, said the results of DNA tests are yet to be out. “Yesterday, blood samples were taken and it may take around three days for the results to be out,” he said on Thursday. Thirty of the injured are in serious condition.
