Three Iraqi tourists drowned in Sulaimani’s Dukan Lake: Police

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In yet another incident dimming the summer season in the Kurdistan Region, three Iraqi tourists on Monday drowned in Dukan Lake in the province of Sulaimani, according to local police.

The individuals were on vacation in the area, known as a refreshing oasis in the region, according to the police statement received by Kurdistan 24.

The three were ethnically Arab Iraqis from Baghdad. They were between the ages of 36 and 25, the statement added without revealing their names.

The civil defense team recovered the bodies of the young men and police have already started an investigation into the case.

Sulaimani Province is one of the more popular tourist hot spots in the Kurdistan Region, receiving a considerable number of visitors every year thanks to its scenic landscapes and lower temperatures in comparison to other parts of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Over the past few months, there have been several incidents of tourists drowning in the lakes and rivers in the Kurdistan Region despite warnings and instructions advertised by the tourism board of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region.

The issue of water safety was brought to light by one incident, in particular, involving Jabar Osman Said, 19, a local Kurdish resident who died in the Choman River in Erbil’s Balakayati area after he attempted to rescue Zahra Hashim, an Iraqi tourist who came from Baghdad. She was in the Kurdistan Region, along with her family, to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Both drowned in the river.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has, over the past few years, actively attempted to develop the tourism sector in the semi-autonomous region as a source of revenue, rather than relying entirely on revenue generated by exporting crude oil abroad.

Editing by Nadia Riva