University student dies by suicide in Kirkuk; 9-year-old drowns in separate incident

KIRKUK, Iraq — A university student died by suicide in Kirkuk while a 9-year-old boy drowned in a separate incident in the province, security sources said. The student, a resident of the Nasir neighborhood, was enrolled in the forensic sciences department at the University of Kirkuk, according to the sources. Security forces opened an investigation into the death, and the body was transferred to a forensic medicine unit for legal procedures. The same sources said the case brought the number of suicides recorded in Kirkuk since the beginning of the year to nine. No further details about the circumstances were immediately available. In the separate incident in Dibis district, a 9-year-old boy from the village of Sumeyit drowned in the Zap River, the sources said. Rescue teams recovered the child's body and handed it over to the forensic medicine unit, while relevant authorities launched an investigation into the drowning.