Factory fire in Iraq’s Kirkuk injures five, two critically

Shafaq News – Kirkuk

A fire tore through a building materials factory in Kirkuk on Saturday, injuring five people, two of them critically, according to a Civil Defense source.

The source told Shafaq News that the blaze broke out at a sandwich panel production facility in the Darman area along the Kirkuk–Erbil highway, after an electrical short circuit triggered flames in the operating unit and quickly spread due to flammable materials on-site.

Fire crews, the source added, contained the fire after an hour of intense effort, preventing it from reaching nearby buildings, while all five victims were transferred to the burns unit at Azadi Teaching Hospital.

Authorities have launched an investigation to confirm the cause and assess financial damages, which are expected to be significant.

This marks the latest in a string of industrial fires in Kirkuk, following a major blaze at a spice factory earlier this month, which prompted Civil Defense officials to call for stricter safety enforcement amid recurring electrical failures and poor storage practices.