ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A gas tanker exploded in western Baghdad on Saturday night, leaving at least nine people dead with more than a dozen others injured, according to security officials inside the Iraqi capital.
The commander of Baghdad Operations Command Ahmed Salim said that at least nine people were killed and a further 13 were injured due to the blast in the Banks area of Baghdad, Iraqi state media reported.
Salim added that the explosion was the result of a technical malfunction and not a terrorist attack.
Emergency and civil defense teams were seen carrying away the bodies of victims in the aftermath of the blast, and an investigation has been launched into the incident.
“The explosion occurred in a tanker empty of any product, and the explosives directorate members are examining the tanker and the fragments that separated from it,” Iraqi civil defense director Kazim Buhan told Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran at the incident site.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell also said that security forces have launched an investigation into the explosion.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid later on Saturday called for an investigation into the blast.
“We assure the competent authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and hold those who were negligent accountable,” Rashid said while expressing solidarity with the victims.
Updated at 11:18 pm with Iraqi president’s statement
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