Two killed as fuel tanker explodes during insulation work on Penjwen road

SULAYMANIYAH — Two men were killed on Friday afternoon when a fuel tanker exploded while they were carrying out Isogam insulation work on the Penjwen-Bashmakh road, witnesses and an emergency official said.

Both died at the scene, said Saman Nadir, head of Sulaymaniyah Rapid Response. One was 30 and from Iranian Kurdistan, and his body was being taken to Sulaymaniyah; the other was 25.

Isogam is a bitumen waterproofing membrane applied with a gas torch. Almost every recent tanker explosion in the Kurdistan Region and Basra has happened during hot work on or beside a tanker. In October 2025 a 25-year-old was killed in Piramagrun when a tanker exploded as he repaired its upper section at his father’s welding shop, and on Oct. 13 that year two men were killed and two injured when a fuel tank exploded at a workshop in Simele, Duhok. A welder died and a driver was seriously hurt in Khor al-Zubair in March 2025 when a tanker exploded during repairs, and two workers were killed and two injured in Khabat, Erbil, in October 2024 while welding a tanker.

The Penjwen-Bashmakh road leads to the Bashmakh crossing with Iran and carries heavy fuel traffic. More than 20 people were injured in August when fire and explosions tore through a fuel depot at Nawgrdan near Tanjaro, which held about 3 million litres of petrol and three gas tankers.