A major fire spread to refinery fuel tanks in Iraq, injuring more than ten people, including civil defense rescuers who are still trying to put out the fire Thursday in autonomous Kurdistan (north).
The fire, the cause of which remains unknown for the moment, started Wednesday evening from an asphalt tank before reaching a second neighboring refinery on a road southwest of Erbil, capital of autonomous Kurdistan.
In the middle of the night, the mobilized firefighters tried to extinguish the glowing flames which caused immense plumes of black smoke, according to an AFP photographer.
“More than 10 people were injured, mainly men from the Erbil Civil Defense,” the institution reported in a statement, specifying that three fire trucks had burned.
Several Civil Defense teams are trying to put out the fire on Thursday “the causes of which are not yet known,” the press release added.
“The fire started from one refinery before spreading to a second,” according to the same source, specifying that four fuel tanks burned.
With the rise in temperatures in Iraq, the country, accustomed to scorching summers, has experienced several fires in recent weeks which have affected shopping centers, warehouses and even hospitals.
Iraq is regularly the scene of fires or fatal domestic accidents, often due to non-compliance with safety standards, particularly in the construction and transport sectors.
Despite immense hydrocarbon wealth, the country suffers from decaying infrastructure, ravaged by decades of conflict and poor public management tinged with corruption.
In December 2023, at least 14 people died in a fire affecting a building which housed university accommodation reserved for students and professors in Kurdistan.
Three months earlier, around a hundred people died in a fire which broke out during a wedding in a village hall in Qaraqosh, in northern Iraq.
