Turkish worker dies in Zakho fall at construction site

DUHOK — A 53-year-old Turkish construction worker died Thursday morning after falling from the third floor of a building near the Corniche in Zakho, local police said.

The incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. while the man was working on the upper level of the structure. He reportedly lost his balance and fell, dying instantly from severe injuries, according to police.

Ramadan Ahmed, a spokesperson for Zakho police, told 964media that an investigation has been launched under Article 411 of Iraq’s Penal Code to determine whether adequate safety measures were in place at the time.

“The worker’s body is currently with forensic medicine, and the family has been notified,” Ahmed said.

Under Article 411, individuals who accidentally cause another person’s death due to negligence or lack of due care may face detention, a fine, or both.

The death comes amid a series of workplace fatalities in the Kurdistan Region in recent weeks. On April 9, two electricity workers were killed and another injured in separate electrocution incidents in Duhok and Erbil governorates.

Earlier, on April 3, a 27-year-old construction worker was killed and another seriously injured after falling from scaffolding in Tuz Khurmatu’s Yasribi subdistrict. On March 26, a 26-year-old worker died in a fall at a residential construction site in Duhok’s KRO neighborhood.

According to the Kurdistan Construction Workers’ Organization, at least 17 construction-related deaths occurred in Sulaymaniyah between January and August 2024, along with nine in Erbil and eight in the Garmian region. The organization cited poor safety standards, lack of protective equipment, and inadequate training as major contributors. Falls, electrocution, structural collapses, machinery accidents, and severe bleeding were identified as common causes of death.