The fire broke out at around 8:00 pm on Thursday at a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) plant located on the Erbil - Kirkuk road, according to Shakhawan Saeed, the spokesperson for the Erbil civil defense.
Saeed said that a driver and two guards, were severely injured in the fire.
“The cause of the accident was a gas leak, which led to the explosion of a tank,” Saeed said.
Fires are a perennial concern in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, where safety standards are sub-par. Electrical faults and lack of basic safety measures are a major part of the problem.
A fire erupted at Erbil’s popular Qaysari Bazaar earlier this month, burning down a total of 227 shops and seven storages. Over 100 people were injured due to the large fire according to Erbil’s governor’s office.
The fire at the Qaysari Bazaar was the second major fire in Erbil in the span of a month. Flames engulfed the popular Langa Bazaar in April, burning down the textile and clothing section and causing millions of dollars in damage.
The Lamga bazaar also caught fire in late February.
