ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A fire that swept through several auto accessories shops in Erbil was brought under control in the early hours of Tuesday, around seven hours after it erupted, with firefighting teams still monitoring the area to prevent a re-emergence of the blaze. The fire engulfed a depot and several stores on Erbil’s 60-meter road late Monday and was ablaze until the early hours of Tuesday. The blaze, the cause of which has yet to be determined, resulted in significant material damage. “It is a three-story building, apart from an underground floor. One and a half story completely burned down,” an eyewitness told Rudaw’s Payam Sarbast. The fire was the second within hours in the Kurdistan Region. A massive blaze erupted at the Parvez Khan border crossing with Iran in Sulaimani province on Monday evening, killing at least one person and burning 14 tankers, before being controlled hours later. Fires are a perennial concern in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region where safety standards are often lacking. They are especially frequent in the summertime with the scorching summer heat increasing the risk of fires. Around 1,300 fires were reported during the first five months of 2024, resulting in at least 60 deaths, according to official data from the Kurdistan Regional Government.
