Fire Engulfs Fuel Depot, 38 Tanker Trucks Destroyed

A major fire broke out at a fuel storage depot in the Tanjaro area near Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. The incident reportedly injured around 20 people and destroyed dozens of tanker trucks.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed flames and thick black smoke billowing from the site on Monday evening local time. Sulaimaniyah Deputy Director General Hersh Saeed Saleem said there were no fatalities in the incident.

‘Around 20 people were injured, and all of them sustained minor injuries,’ Saleem told Rudaw Media Network.

According to Rudaw, the fire began shortly before midnight at a warehouse in the Tanjaro area, which is one of the main fuel supply hubs in the province. Emergency workers and security personnel were deployed after the fire grew and a series of explosions were heard as the flames spread to the facility area.

Meanwhile, Shafaq News reported that two people suffered burns, one of whom required hospital treatment.

Shafaq News, citing local sources, reported that at least 34 petrol tanker trucks and four diesel tanker trucks were destroyed in the fire. The blaze also consumed more than 3 million litres of fuel.

Sulaimaniyah Deputy Governor Shaho Osman said the fire had been brought under control. Civil defence teams from Sulaimaniyah led the firefighting effort, while officials from Erbil said they were ready to provide assistance if needed.

As of now, the cause of the fire remains unknown. Authorities are still conducting assessments to determine the total damage caused by the incident.

Despite the scale of the fire, Ramyar Rizgar, spokesman for the Sulaimaniyah fuel market, and warehouse owner Sheikh Abdullah told Rudaw that they do not expect the incident to trigger a rise in petrol prices in the Kurdistan region.