Residents of a remote village described a strong lightning strike as a "ball of fire", that struck and burned part of an 80-year-old tree that had provided shade for children in the village for decades.
The incident occurred on April 4, while the children of Sayed Hussein village in Kifri district of Sulaymaniya province were playing under the tree and shortly left after a spring shower.
Two weeks after the incident, Ghanima's hands were still shaking.
“The ground shook so much that the light filled her house. I thought a canon shell had hit her house... I screamed loudly and ran outside.”
As the lightning struck the 80-year-old tree, Ghanima, in her sixties, was preparing to feed her grandchildren who had just left the tree shade and come home seeking shelter following the shower.
Kifri district is one of the disputed areas between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG, but it is administratively associated with Garmian. According to data from 2023, the percentage of green spaces in Garmian was only 5.7 %, which is far less than the global standard that has set the percentage at no less than 30%.
Regarding Kifri district, statistics published by the municipality last June indicated that the percentage of greenery in the district ranges between 7% and 9%.
“Eleven children were playing under the tree. My grandsons came back, their clothes were wet, they changed and said Grandma was hungry. I brought a spoon to bring some (dates) paste to eat with bread. I ran outside and my husband ran after me shouting don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's okay."
The story is not just about a lightning strike and the rescue of 11 children, but also about the loss of a tree that the villagers fondly called the tall tree and had a long history with.
Nuri Mohammed, 63, a resident of the village, said the lightning struck just
after the children had been playing under the tree.
The Kurdistan Regional Government KRG’s Ministry of Health MoH says that environmental pollution is one of the causes of cancer, with 9,911 cancer cases recorded in 2023, and statistics indicate that lung cancer is the second most common case. Iraqi Ministry of Health has registered over 43,000 cancer cases in 2023.
According to Ghanima, the 80-year-old tree was two meters wide and eight meters tall. The villagers named it Ali Rostam's tree, after the man who planted it at the beginning of the last century.
"I have seen the tree every day since I was a child and I grew up with it. When I saw it fall to the ground, I cried a lot for it. I am really sad,” she added.
"I still remember my martyred brother playing under the shade of the tree as a child," she recalled.
In the village of Sayed Hussein, in the Kifri district, there are about ten aged trees, but the broken tree was the tallest.
Ghanima is grateful to receive two trees given to her on World Earth Day, which will serve as replacements for the old tree. Laila Ahmad
The population of Garmian administration is estimated at 343,594 people, according to statistics from the Garmian Statistics Directorate. A statistic from the General Directorate of Municipalities of Garmian indicates that there are 243 large public parks and gardens in Garmian, 83 of which are located in the district of Kifri.
Last week, in honor of World Earth Day, Adwi, a local organization that focuses on environmental and women's issues, launched a tree planting campaign in the village for the sake of future generations.
