Amuda cinema fire

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Amuda Cinema Fire
Amoudah cinema statute.jpg
Memorial statue in Amuda, Syria
DateNovember 1960
VenueAmuda Cinema
Location Amuda, Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Type Structure fire
CauseOld and worn-out film stock catching fire
MotiveBelieved to be inspired by ethnic hatred towards Kurds
OutcomeOver 200 children dead
Deaths200+

Amouda Cinema was a movie theater in Amuda town in Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria. This cinema burned down in a fire in November 1960 and more than 200 children died inside it, [1] it was believed to have been inspired by ethnic hatred towards Kurds. [2]

Contents

Fire

The victims were mostly Kurds younger than 14 years old. [3] The cinema hall had a capacity of about 200 people, but about 500 children were watching the film at the time of fire. [4] [5]

The exits to the cinema had been padlocked and all of the cinema staff had left the building before the fire started. Authorities also prevented onlookers from attempting to save the children, claiming that it was too "dangerous". [6] The children of regime officials did not attend the film. Two Syrian soldiers were stationed at the cinema's entrance. [7] The cinema had four doors, none which were able to be opened during the fire. [8] The film stock, which was old and worn out, caught fire and the flames spread to the wooden roof of the cinema hall. [9]

Many of the victims died of suffocation after a cinema door closed into them. [10] Some of the victims decided to jump off a balcony, but did not realize that the balcony was directly above an open well. A wooden beam fell onto and killed a man named Mohammed Said Agha Daqqouri, who saved 12 children from the fire before his death. [11]

Aftermath

The Syrian government never conducted an investigation into the fire. [4]

The tragedy left lasting physical and psychological scars on many survivors. [12] According to Muhammad Omar Sheikhmous, the head of Amuda, "not a single house in Amuda was left without a martyred child" as a result of the fire. [13]

Reconstruction of the cinema began on 31 August 2024. [14] The project covers an area of over 1,100 cubic meters and had a total cost of US$ 346,326. [15]

In culture

Amouda is Burning is a documentary script about the Amouda Cinema fire by the Kurdish-Syrian writer and lawyer Hasan Draei. [16] [17] [18]

References

  1. ↑ "On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the massacre of Amouda Cinema..." Yekiti Media. Archived from the original on 2014-05-17.
  2. ↑ David, McDowall (1996). A Modern History Of The Kurds. I.B. Tauris. p. 472. ISBN   9781850434160.
  3. ↑ Zaman, Amberin (23 November 2021). "Syrian-Kurdish couple sets Amude's cinema ghosts to rest" . Al-Monitor . Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Remembering the dead children of the cinema of Amûdê". Firat News Agency . Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Ali, Nabin (13 November 2023). "Residents pay tribute to victims of cinema fire in Syria's Amuda". North Press Agency. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  6. ↑ Shekhani, Helbast. "Wounds from the 1960 Great Fire of Amuda remain open for Syrian Kurds". Kurdistan24. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "Tribute paid to children killed in Amûdê cinema fire 62 years ago". Firat News Agency . 13 November 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "AANES builds cinema to honor victims of Syria's Amuda 1960 fire". North Press Agency. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "The "Midnight Ghost" Devours "Sharazad" and Her Little Ones!". Syrians for Truth and Justice. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  10. ↑ Diwani, Lilav (21 November 2020). "Sixty years after calamity ... wound is still bleeding". Hawar News Agency . Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  11. ↑ "The 61st anniversary of the massacre of the Amouda cinema fire". ARK News. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "في الذكرى الـ 60 لحريق سينما عامودا.. حين بكت "شهرزاد" الأطفال". Syria TV (in Arabic). 13 November 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "The Kurdish National Council recalls the Amouda Cinema fire massacre". ARK News. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  14. ↑ "64 years later: Amouda Cinema being rebuilt". mesopotamia.coop. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  15. ↑ Khoja, Abdulsalam (4 September 2024). "AANES builds cinema to honor victims of Syria's Amuda 1960 fire". North Press Agency. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  16. ↑ Mezar Hussein, Abdullah (1 December 2012). "Haitham Hussein: The continuing story of a Syrian Kurd novelist". The Kurdistan Tribune.
  17. ↑ Diri, Farhad (9 May 2005). "فرهاد دريعي - عامودا لن تحترق". ahewar.org (in Arabic).
  18. ↑ "وفاة حسن دريعي كاتب "عامودا تحترق" قُبيل أيام من ذكراها السنوي". Hawar News Agency (in Arabic). 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2014-05-13.


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