World3 min(s) read
Bride and groom whose wedding killed more than 100 guests have made a decision about their marriage
After a tragedy turned the best day of their lives into the worst, newlyweds who lost over 100 of their loved ones in a fire at their wedding venue have revealed how they have navigated the heartbreaking beginning of married life.
Revan and Haneen tied the knot on September 26, 2023, at a large venue in Qaraqosh, near the city of Mosul, in Iraq.
Tragically, what was supposed to be a celebration of love quickly turned into a catastrophic disaster.
Both the bride and groom lost many family members
After indoor fireworks ignited the decorations on the ceiling, a blaze set the venue alight, killing more than 100 of the young couple’s family and friends.
A video of the couple and more than 500 guests desperately screaming and running for their lives while burning pieces of the ceiling began falling on top of them surfaced online at the time.
The bride, Haneen, then 18, lost 10 family members, including her mother and brother, in the tragedy. The groom, then 27, lost 15 relatives, including his mother.
In a gut-wrenching interview with Sky News, Revan said: “We are sitting here in front of you alive. But inside, we’re dead. We are numb.”
While his wife sat beside him in silence, the newlywed explained how he saved his wife when the blaze broke out, helping her escape as she struggled to run in her wedding dress.
Revan said: “I kept dragging her and trying to get her out of the kitchen entrance. As people were fleeing, they were trampling on her.
“Her legs are injured. Our relatives, our friends, our loved ones, are all gone.”
14 people were arrested in connection with the incident
Authorities later established that the indoor fireworks set the decorations on the ceiling, which were made of cheap, flammable material, alight. However, Revan is adamant that the fireworks were not the cause of the fire; instead, believing it could have been shortcuts made by the venue that caused the disaster.
Gen Saad Faleh, the head of the Iraqi investigative committee, explained that four pyrotechnic devices shot sparks 4m (13ft) into the air, a distance that “allowed them to reach the hall’s ceiling, ultimately leading to the fire.”
The venue’s owner and 13 other people were arrested in connection with the devastating incident.
Discussing how they had planned to try and enjoy the start of married life despite the tragic accident tarnishing it, Revan revealed that the couple were set to move away from their hometown where the catastrophe happened.
Fighting back tears, the husband said: “We can’t live here anymore. Every time we try to have some happiness, something tragic happens to us, so it’s best for us to leave.”