抖阴ap

BAGHDAD — A fierce blaze at a hotel without fire escapes sent some desperate guests plunging to their deaths in a northern Iraqi oil boomtown, killing 28 people.

Half of those killed were foreigners, a reflection of the thousands of migrants who flooded the Kurdish region in northern Iraq in recent years in search of economic opportunities.

Kurdistan, which has been spared the brunt of violence in Iraq, has prospered even as the rest of the country remains mired in sectarian bloodshed and political woes that have slowed investment.

The fire began late Thursday in the city of Sulaimaniyah and lasted well into Friday morning as firefighters battled the deadly blaze in the five-story Soma Hotel for nearly five hours.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene in which smoke filled the hallways and billowed out of the windows, forcing some hotel guests to jump from the upper floors.

“I entered the room and threw myself from the window. I broke my legs. The pain was so great that I lost consciousness. I found myself in the hospital,” said Mariwan Asaad just before going into the operating room for surgery. He had been visiting friends at the hotel.

Most of the victims died from smoke inhalation, and the lack of fire escapes contributed to the high death toll, said the head of the city’s fire department, Brig. Yadgar Mohammed Mustafa.

The chief of police, Brig. Gen. Najim-al-Din Qadir, said 28 people — including 14 foreigners — were killed in the blaze, which was sparked by an electrical short. The top health official in Sulaimaniyah, Rekwt Mohammed, confirmed the toll, adding that one of the dead was a pregnant woman.

The lack of fire escapes raises questions about the Kurdish building boom and whether corners are being cut in pursuit of economic growth.