ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A massive fire swept through central Duhok’s Chale bazaar on early Monday, burning over 100 shops. The blaze was controlled several hours later.
At least 24 civil defense teams, comprising over 400 members, participated in putting out the fire that engulfed the ancient bazaar. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, but several shopkeepers alleged that it was due to a short circuit.
At least six people, including a number of civilians who volunteered to help control the fire, were hospitalized after experiencing breathing difficulties due to inhaling the smoke, Bewar Abdulaziz, spokesperson for Duhok’s civil defense, told Rudaw’s Hunar Rashid.
“Thankfully, the fire was controlled, but it resulted in great material damage. A committee will be formed to determine the cause of the fire and the damage,” the spokesperson told reporters on Monday morning.
A shopkeeper claimed to have lost over 500,000 dollars’ worth of goods in the blaze.
Abdulaziz said that civil defense teams have previously stressed the need for fire extinguisher bottles and suppression systems in the bazaar, due to its highly flammable nature, noting that all shops will be obligated to meet all safety requirements following the bazaar’s renovation after Eid al-Fitr.
There have been several major fires in the Kurdistan Region recently.
A large fire engulfed Erbil’s Langa bazaar late February, allegedly caused by an electric short circuit, burning hundreds of shops.
At least six storage depots containing household appliances and tissue papers went up in flames in northern Erbil on Wednesday. In a separate incident earlier in March, a storage depot containing flammable goods caught fire with the owner estimating the material loss was around 10 million dollars
At least three people, including two children, were injured when their house caught fire in Erbil’s Soran district on Tuesday, in an incident attributed to a gas leak.
Updated at 9:18 am
