Death toll in Iraq women's shelter fire rises to 9; many injured

A fight that caused a fire at a women's shelter in Baghdad on Friday killed nine people and wounded 22 others, police said. An officer at the Rusafa police division said the fire started at the shelter's kitchen after residents got into a fight. The fire quickly spread through the two-story facility in Baghdad's Azamiyah district.

Two women died from stab wounds and seven in the fire, according to the officer, who asked to have his name withheld in line with police regulations. Twenty-two others were being treated for injuries at two nearby hospitals. The shelter, run by the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry's Office for Rehabilitation, houses homeless women and those with children born out of wedlock.

(With inputs from agencies.)