IRAQ: Election: Fire hits Baghdad ballots ahead of recount

A fire has hit Iraq’s biggest ballot paper storage depot ahead of a proposed recount. Votes for the eastern district of the Iraqi capital Baghdad were being held in the building. It is not clear if voting papers have been destroyed or what caused the fire in the storage centre. Last month’s legislative elections were […]

A fire has hit Iraq’s biggest ballot paper storage depot ahead of a proposed recount.

Votes for the eastern district of the Iraqi capital Baghdad were being held in the building.

It is not clear if voting papers have been destroyed or what caused the fire in the storage centre.

Last month’s legislative elections were won by an alliance headed by the populist Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Amid allegations of widespread fraud, on Wednesday Iraq’s parliament requested a manual recount of about 10 million votes cast.

Firefighters were attempting to control the fire at the storage site, which housed ballot boxes of the al-Rusafa district in the east of Baghdad.

An interior ministry spokesman told the Reuters news agency that the blaze had destroyed some documents and equipment, but efforts were being made to stop it from affecting ballot boxes.

He said the blaze had been confined to one of the four warehouses.