12 rescued from Baghdad building fire

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Civil Defense teams rescued 12 people Wednesday after a fire broke out in a four-story residential and commercial building in Baghdad’s Dora area, the Civil Defense Directorate said.

The directorate said the 12 people belonged to several families and were evacuated from the building by Civil Defense teams from Baghdad’s Karkh side.

“The fire broke out as a result of an electrical fault in the building’s main distribution panel,” the directorate said in a statement.

Firefighting and rescue teams went to the building after receiving a report of the blaze, according to the statement.

The directorate said its teams contained the fire and prevented it from spreading while carrying out an evacuation of the building’s residents.

The teams extinguished the fire, and no injuries were reported.

The fire is the latest in a series across Iraq in recent weeks, many linked by authorities to electrical faults or inadequate fire safety. Earlier last month, a fire at the Rabia border crossing in western Nineveh destroyed three cargo trucks, and the Baghdad Operations Command urged residents to follow Civil Defense guidance to prevent fires during the summer heat.