Battery explosion kills Bengali worker in Kurdistan’s Erbil: Police
In the absence of an appropriate recycling system, many people continue to mix hazardous materials like batteries in the trash bin.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Bengali worker was killed in the Kurdistan Region’s capital on Tuesday after a battery detonated inside a garbage bag which he was collecting, a local Kurdish security source said.
“The Bengali worker was collecting garbage and putting it inside a truck as part of his daily cleaning routine. All of a sudden, a battery which was believed to be mixed with trash thrown away by someone detonated and killed the worker,” the source told Kurdistan 24.
The explosion also injured another cleaning employee, the security added, without providing details about the nationality of the person and severity of the injury.
According to the source, the incident took place in Erbil’s Pirzin district, and an investigation is underway.
In the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and the Middle East, in general, there is a lack of awareness around the proper disposal of hazardous materials like batteries. In the absence of an appropriate recycling system, many people continue to mix items in the trash bin.
Over the past years, many Bengali citizens have moved to Kurdistan to seek employment in different sectors. Most of them work as commercial cleaners or are hired as private ones for homes.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
