Unidentified drone crashes in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An unidentified drone fell from the sky over Kirkuk city on Thursday, causing no fatalities. An investigation has been launched into the incident. 

Witnesses told Rudaw that several “loud explosions” were heard over one of Kirkuk’s Turkmen-majority neighborhoods as an object crashed to the ground. Security forces and civil defense teams quickly arrived, extinguished the fire, and cordoned off the area, launching an investigation into the incident. 

Kirkuk police later confirmed that a “large” drone was shot down over the province’s airspace.

“A large, unidentified drone entered Kirkuk airspace from the direction of the Chiman checkpoint,” police chief Fattah al-Khafaji said in a statement. “It was shot down by the air defense.” 

No fatalities were reported, but a worker was injured and taken to the hospital while the crash also resulted in material damage to a house and several vehicles. 

"According to preliminary information, the object that crashed was a drone," a member of Kirkuk's security forces told Rudaw. 

“The security forces shot down the drone themselves but there is no official statement from them. This is also a crowded area,” a witness at the site alleged. 

A resident near the crash site later submitted CCTV footage to Rudaw showing the drone crashing into the street. 

Hardi Mohammed contributed to this article.