Large fire breaks out at fuel depot near Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah

A large fire has torn through a fuel storage depot near the city of Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, injuring a number of people and destroying dozens of tankers.

Footage of Monday’s fire, verified by Al Jazeera, indicates flames and thick clouds of smoke rising over the northern Iraqi city.

Hersh Saeed Saleem, the deputy director general of Sulaimaniyah, told the Rudaw Media Network that no one was killed, but some 20 residents had been hurt, with all injuries described as minor.

Shafaq News, another local news outlet, separately reported two burn cases, one of which required hospital treatment.

The fire broke out just before midnight at a warehouse in the Tanjaro area, one of the province’s main fuel supply sites, according to Rudaw.

Emergency crews and security forces rushed to the scene as the blaze intensified, with a number of explosions reported as flames spread through the facility.

Shafaq News, citing a local source, noted that 34 petrol tankers and four gas-oil tankers were destroyed, with the fire consuming more than 3 million litres of fuel.

The Deputy Governor of Sulaimaniyah, Shaho Osman, said the fire has now been brought under control.

The cause of the fire remains unclear.

Civil defence teams from Sulaimaniyah were leading the firefighting effort.