Over 70 people fall ill after suspected food poisoning at Zakho restaurant

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Seventy-five people fell ill on Thursday after suspected food poisoning at a restaurant in Duhok province's Zakho district, the Kurdistan Region's health ministry said on Thursday.

“The patients were admitted to Zakho's emergency hospital and received the required treatment,” a statement from the ministry read.

It added that Saman Barzanji, health minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), emphasized taking the necessary legal action against the restaurant.

The restaurant was immediately closed after the incident, pending legal proceedings. Health teams also collected food samples for investigation, the health ministry said.

“My wife and all my three daughters ate the food from the restaurant and got poisoned,” a man waiting at the hospital’s gate for his family told Rudaw.

Mass food poisoning happened before in the Region. In 2025, around 200 were hospitalized for eating at a local restaurant in Duhok.

Also, in 2017, over 825 displaced persons from Mosul suffered food poisoning after eating from food delivered to their camp near Erbil.