Fire erupts at Iraqi Oil Ministry building in Baghdad

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) - A fire broke out at Iraq’s Oil Ministry headquarters in central Baghdad on Thursday, according to a local police source.

Ahmed Khalaf, a Baghdad police officer, told Anadolu Agency that the fire had torn through at least one floor of the building.

Civil-defense teams, he said, were still fighting to prevent the blaze from spreading to other floors.

"There is no information thus far regarding the extent of the damage or the cause of the fire," he said.

Several Iraqi government institutions have been damaged by fire in recent months.

Earlier this month, at least nine people were killed when a fire tore through a government-run women’s shelter in Baghdad.