KIRKUK, Iraq — Fire ripped through a wheat field in Kirkuk’s Hanana village on Tuesday, killing two women and a boy.
“We heard about the fire while having lunch, that it was close to the truck. We hurried to our fields where the women were,” explained Kana’an Nazim, the owner of the property which caught ablaze.
“We tried to extinguish the fire, but it was moving so fast that we couldn't. Two women and the boy got trapped in the blaze, they all died,” Nazim said.
Strong winds accelerated the spread of the fire, making it difficult to extinguish.
One of the two women who died was pregnant.
“Two other women were injured and are in the hospital,” Nazim added.
The fire broke out underneath a truck and was spotted by one of the workers.
“The driver of the combine harvester saw the fire under a truck. He tried to extinguish it but to no avail,” said Mutlag Abdullah, a local villager.
“It spread quickly. We saved the combine harvester. Later, people came, but the fire had grown out of control,” Abdullah added.
Along with the tragic deaths, the fire destroyed some equipment as well as the wheat.
Because the community is located in a remote area, firefighters were unable to reach the fire quickly. Some 70 dunams of cropland burned.
The village of Hanana is located 50 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
