Fire at Tikrit furniture shops kills three, injures six

SALAH AL-DIN — A fire late Friday night engulfed Al-Ameen Furniture Shops on Al-Zohour Street in central Tikrit, killing three people and injuring six others before civil defense teams brought the flames under control, officials said.

The blaze broke out in a three-story commercial building that sold furniture in the Al-Zohour neighborhood, according to the Civil Defense Directorate in Salah al-Din governorate.

Brig. Gen. Moath Subhi Tawfiq, director of civil defense for Salah al-Din, said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. “The Salah al-Din Civil Defense Directorate participated with nine firefighting teams in addition to a Snorkel fire truck,” he told the Iraqi News Agency.

Yasin Mohammed, a member of the Salah al-Din governorate council, told 964media that the victims were the building’s owner, his brother, and his son. “They were inside the building with six other workers at the time,” he said. “In addition to the human losses, there was extensive material damage. The police and civil defense teams are still investigating the scene.”

A witness near the site told 964media that delays in the civil defense response allowed the fire to intensify and spread beyond control in its early stages.

Meanwhile, the Salah al-Din Health Directorate said that emergency crews at Tikrit Educational Hospital treated several people injured in the fire. “Our medical and nursing staff rushed to provide first aid and treatment to all those injured as a result of the fire and offered the best possible medical services,” said Dr. Mohammed Sabah Saber, director of the hospital. He praised the emergency department’s prompt action.