Three children killed, seven injured in separate traffic incidents in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil

NEWSROOM — Three children were killed and seven others injured in two separate car crashes in Sulaymaniyah and the Khalifan district of Erbil province on Thursday, according to local officials.

The first accident occurred around 11 a.m. near the Chami Rezan area of Sulaymaniyah, when a vehicle lost control and overturned. “The accident happened before noon today when a Land Cruiser lost control on the slopes of Gawrade Mountain before overturning,” Salam Karim, the director of Hajitan Hospital, told 964media.

A six-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy were killed, and three other family members were injured in the accident. The injured were taken by ambulance to Piramagrun Hospital, where their condition is stable.

In 2023, traffic accidents were the leading cause of death in Sulaymaniyah governorate, accounting for nearly 25% of the 592 total deaths examined. More than 83% of the victims were male.

In a separate incident in the Khalifan district of Erbil, a child was killed and four others injured in a collision between a Toyota pickup and a Scania truck on the Spilik road. “All the victims were passengers in the pickup truck. We do not yet have information on whether all the victims are from the same family,” Mohsen Tahsin, Soran’s traffic spokesperson, told 964media.

These two incidents, which resulted in the deaths of three children within five hours.

Nationally, Iraq reported over 3,262 traffic fatalities in 2023, excluding the Kurdistan Region, according to the Ministry of Planning. Driver error accounted for 56.4% of these crashes, with other contributing factors including vehicle issues, road conditions, and pedestrian behavior.

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