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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - 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.
The fire broke out late on Tuesday night in a house in Delziani village in Soran district, with most of the residence being destroyed. A 30-year-old woman and her two children were severely injured in the fire.
Soran’s civil defense teams said a gas leak had started the fire.
An eight-month-old child sustained the most severe injuries, with 80 percent of his body suffering burns, and the pain reportedly rendering him unconscious.
Jawhar Ahmad was out at the time of the fire but rushed back home when he realised his house was on fire with his wife and children inside.
“There was a loud bang and I thought it was a drone [attack]. I came out and told my son, 'Run, the house is on fire’ and when we came here a child was here, he was on fire, I threw him out and put out the fire,” Jawhar Ahmad, the father, told Rudaw’s Andam Jabar on Wednesday.
“I took the other child as well, who is eight months old, out and we sent them to the hospital,” Ahmed said.
Hamrin Mina, the director of Ashti Hospital in Soran district, confirmed that two of the victims received initial treatment at Ashti Emergency Hospital before being transferred to Erbil for further medical care.
Gas heaters are commonly used in Kurdish households due to the lack of central heating systems in the Kurdistan Region and chronic electricity shortages. Despite their advantages, they are a common safety hazard.
An explosion at a packed house in Sulaimani’s Kaziwa neighborhood in November resulted in the complete collapse of the property, killing 15 people and injuring 12 others. The blast was attributed to a buildup of gas inside the house after the LPG tank leaked.
Days after the blast in Sulaimani, the explosion of a gas tank on the rooftop of a three-story building in Duhok killed at least seven and wounded 34 others, with most of the casualties being dormitory students who resided on the second and third floors of the building. The tank served as the gas system for a bakery on the first floor.
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