Nine dwellings belonging to refugees and IDPs at a camp in Duhok were destroyed in a fire caused by an electric short circuit. There was material damage but no wounded or casualties.
The incident occurred early morning today at 5 a.m. (17 July 2020). One cabin initialled caught fire, then the spread to others.
There is no fire truck in the camp. By the time a fire truck reached us from outside the camp, nine caravans were on fire
Murad Hasan Dahar, one of those whose cabin was destroyed, told KirkukNow: “There is no fire truck in the camp. By the time a fire truck reached us from outside the camp, nine caravans were on fire as the residents were unable to control the fire.”
“Within half an hour my entire home was burned down. I have been displaced for six years, and this was my only home. I lost all of it,” said Murad.
Murad said that he had a TV set, refrigerator, air conditioner, jewellery and money inside his caravan, and that all of it is gone, but “thank God there was only material damage,” he added.
The destroyed caravans cost each between two to three million Iraqi Dinar ($1700 - $2500).
The Qadiya camp, located in Duhok’s Zakho district, is a refuge for IDPs from Shingal district and its surroundings, and consists of more than 3000 dwellings.
“We have been asking for years for a fire truck to be provided to the camp, but to no avails. Today a fire truck had to come from Zakho.”
According to an assessment by UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are still 200,000 displaced Yazidis, many of whom reside in Duhok province at the Qadiya and other camps.
Nadiar Najbi, director of the Qadiya camp, told KirkukNow: “We have a few empty caravans that we will replace the destroyed ones with. As for the home appliances, they will be compensated; we have sent a report to the UN and a few NGOs so they compensate [those who lost possessions].”
“The total damage is worth more than 15 million Iraqi Dinars [roughly $12,500]. We will do everything we can for them. We consider it our responsibility to compensate them,” said Najbi.
