Second person dies following injuries sustained in gas plant fire

ERBIL – Four days after a fire broke out at the Nawroz gas plant in Erbil, a second injured individual has succumbed to his injuries.

The fire occurred Thursday at the factory on the Erbil-Kirkuk Road, initially resulted in three injuries, a plant guard, his brother, and the tanker driver.

Two days after the incident, one of the injured passed away.

Rawand Hawizi, Director of the Emergency Hospital in Erbil, informed 964media that the second casualty of the incident died due to 100% burns. His brother is also in a “critical condition due to severe burns,” Hawizi added.

The Erbil-Kirkuk road was temporarily closed due to the fire but has since reopened.

Approximately 100 tons of liquefied petroleum gas were reportedly burned in the incident.

The fire was brought under control after about one hour, with 15 civil defense teams responding.

Erbil has experienced at least 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 February 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 fire at the Langa Market on April 8 affected 48 shops.