No fatalities reported
Fire breaks out in Erbil building
ERBIL — A fire broke out in a building in Erbil on Monday morning and was controlled within an hour by the city’s civil defense teams.
The blaze occurred on the 100 Meter Road in the Naznaz neighborhood.
The building, which housed a shop selling electrical appliances, decorations, and home accessories, caught fire in its back section. Witnesses told 964media that the fire might have been caused by a gas cylinder, but officials have not confirmed the cause.
Shakhwan Saeed, a spokesperson for Erbil’s Civil Defense, said, “The cause of the fire is still unknown. We are reviewing surveillance camera footage to determine the exact cause. Nine civil defense teams within the city controlled the fire.”
There were no fatalities, but the fire caused significant material damage.
Erbil has experienced nine significant market fires this year, all causing substantial financial losses for vendors. The most severe recent fire occurred on May 5 at the Qaysari Market, destroying 227 shops and seven warehouses and injuring 132 people.
A major fire on Feb. 27 at the Langa Market destroyed 185 shops, with losses estimated at 6.75 billion Iraqi dinars ($5.15 million).
Additional fires followed in March. On March 9, a blaze in the Northern Industrial Area destroyed a warehouse storing electrical goods. On March 13 and 27, fires damaged shops and warehouses in the Farmanbaran Bazaar and near Qushtapa, with losses nearing $1 million.
Another incident at the Langa Market on April 8 affected 48 shops. Erbil Governor Omid Khoshnaw cited negligence and overcrowding as the main causes of that blaze.
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