Iraq’s Largest Ballot Warehouse Catches Fire Before Vote Recount

After a manual recount was mandated following the general election, fire engulfed Iraq’s biggest ballot warehouse.

Smoke rises from a fire that broke out at Baghdad’s largest ballot box storage site.

(Photo: AP)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

A massive fire broke out in Iraq’s biggest ballot warehouse just days after the Parliament ordered a manual recount of the vote after allegations of fraud.

The ballot boxes are part of a manual recount of votes, mandated in a law passed by the Iraqi Parliament on Wednesday following allegations of fraud and irregularities.

The warehouse was one of the four present at the site at which the ballots were being stored.

The burnt store contained equipment and documents and some ballot boxes belonging to the Electoral Commission. The majority of the ballot boxes are in the other three warehouses that have not been burned.

Major General Saad Maan, Interior Ministry spokesman

While the authorities did not comment on whether the fire was deliberate, it casts further doubt on the validity of the election.

(With inputs from AP)