BAGHDAD, 05 June, 2021 (TON): A massive fire at the Sharya Camp for displaced persons in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in Duhok province on Friday burnt more than 400 tents and wounded seven people, said a local official.

According to director of the camp Hakar Mohammed, a large part of the fire has been put out and the camp, which shelters hundreds of displaced persons of the Yazidi minority, was evacuated by rescue teams, he added that the wounded have been transported to hospitals.

The firefighters are still working to put out the rest of the fire, Mohammed said.

Bewar Abdul-Aziz, head of Duhok's provincial civil defense directorate, told reporters that "the civil defense teams were able to control the fire," noting that investigations had begun to find out the causes of the fire.

Iraq is experiencing ongoing displacement. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix, an estimated 1.3 million persons remained internally displaced in Iraq, with more than 250,000 residing in camps and an additional 44,000 in informal settlements, predominantly in Erbil, Duhok, and Ninewa provinces.