Sulaymaniyah records 147 fires in May, three killed and 35 injured

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq — Civil defense authorities in Sulaymaniyah recorded 147 fires within the city limits in May, leaving three people dead and 35 injured, with material damage estimated at around 400 million Iraqi dinars, the provincial Civil Defense Directorate said. The directorate's official figures show that 23 of the fires broke out in residential homes, 21 in vehicles, nine in workplaces and two in motorcycles, while 92 occurred in grassland and scrub areas. Crews also responded to 70 rescue and assistance operations during the same period, including five vehicle rollovers or collisions, three drowning cases and the recovery of four people who had fallen from heights. Technical assessments identified electrical faults and gas leaks as the cause of more than half of the recorded fires. No further details on the investigations were immediately available.