The fire broke out at Bajet Kandala, an IDP camp housing Yazidis near Zakho, at around 11am, burning up to 20 of the camp’s large tents, Khalid Saaid, director of Zakho civil defense, told Rudaw’s Yousif Musa on Thursday.
Believed to be caused by an electrical short circuit, the incident sent around 10 of the camp’s residents to the hospital, but did not result in any casualties.
Bajet Kandala houses over 1,690 families, numbering 8,450 individuals, according to data provided by the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for May.
Fires are a common occurrence in the Kurdistan Region’s displacement camps.
In May, a fire tore through Duhok’s Khanke camp, burning at least eight tents, without any injuries afflicted upon the residents.
In 2021, an explosion at Qadia camp in Duhok killed two children, including a one-month old baby, and injured two other children.
Thousands of Yazidis still remain in IDP camps despite ISIS being driven away from their lands, as their homes are in need of reconstruction.
