Large fire at fuel depot near Sulaimaniyah injures about 20 and destroys dozens of tankers
A large fire has torn through a fuel storage depot near the city of Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq, injuring about 20 people and destroying dozens of fuel tankers. The blaze broke out in the Tanjaro area, which is described as one of the province's main fuel supply sites. Emergency crews and security forces were sent to the scene as the fire spread through the facility.
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Local officials said no one was killed in the incident and that the injuries were minor. The deputy director general of Sulaimaniyah said the people hurt were treated for non-fatal injuries, while another local outlet reported two burn cases, one of which needed hospital treatment. The fire started just before midnight at a warehouse, and several explosions were reported as flames intensified.
One local report said 34 petrol tankers and four gas-oil tankers were destroyed, with more than 3 million litres of fuel consumed by the fire. The deputy governor of Sulaimaniyah said the blaze had been brought under control. Civil defence teams from Sulaimaniyah led the firefighting effort, while teams in Erbil were said to be on standby if needed.
The incident matters because the depot is part of a key fuel supply network for the province, and damage on this scale can affect storage, transport and local distribution even when the immediate fire is contained. Fuel depots are sensitive sites because they combine large volumes of flammable material with heavy vehicle traffic and storage infrastructure. In this case, the reported explosions and the destruction of tankers underline the operational risks at such facilities.
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The site is in the Tanjaro area near Sulaimaniyah, in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Authorities have not yet released a full damage assessment, so the total financial loss and the longer-term impact on supply remain unclear. Local representatives said they did not expect the fire to push up petrol prices in the region, but that view has not yet been backed by a wider official assessment.
What happens next will depend on the final inspection of the depot, including whether the warehouse can resume operations and how much fuel and equipment were lost. Officials are still expected to provide a fuller account of the cause and the extent of the damage. The main points to watch are any revised casualty figures, the outcome of the investigation and whether fuel distribution in the province is disrupted.
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