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15 killed, 30 injured in gas cylinder explosion in northern Iraq15 people were killed and 30 injured on Thursday, 17 November 2022, when a large gas cylinder exploded in a residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya, police and health officials said. Civil defence fire fighters managed to contain the fire, which damaged several houses and destroyed at least five vehicles, the police added. A rescue operation lasting 17 hours had now ended, the civil defence added.
Police officers said at least three houses were completely destroyed by the explosion of a cooking gas cylinder that was installed on the rooftop of one of the homes. Much of war-ravaged Iraq’s infrastructure is dilapidated and tragedies are common. The country also suffers from poorly enforced safety standards, particularly in the transport and construction sectors. Local residents watched on Friday morning as emergency workers, assisted by a backhoe, continued the rescue effort among collapsed white bricks and twisted metal. The explosion shattered the windows and blackened the facade of a neighbouring building. An earlier toll issued Friday morning by Sulaimaniyah’s health authorities had reported 10 deaths. At least one child is among the victims, according to Abubaker, who declared a day of mourning. At the end of October, at least nine people were killed and 13 others injured when a tanker transporting gas accidentally exploded in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. In April 2021, more than 80 people died in a Baghdad hospital fire when improperly stored oxygen cylinders exploded. Sources: Arab News, Reuters |
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