ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Wrya Hamakarim, a Kurdish reporter and presenter working for the Sulaimani-based NRT TV channel, was killed in a fatal car accident at dawn on Thursday, on the main Sulaimani-Arbat road. 

Hamakarim, 39, a field reporter working for Kurdish media outlet NRT, had left home in Halabja to Sulaimani for work, where he encountered a car on the Sulaimani – Arbat road that had broken down, pulling over to offer help, shortly before a truck at high speed lost control and collided with the broken-down car, killing Hama Karim and the driver of the broken car.

The accident could also be attributed to harsh weather conditions that have swept across the Kurdistan Region since Wednesday evening. 

“Wrya was a professional and active journalist,” Halabja governor Azad Tofiq told The New Region. “Unfortunately, Halabja, the province of Halabja, and all media workers lost Wrya.”

“We extend our sincere condolences to all media workers,” Tofiq added.

The truck in the accident was transporting tomatoes and is believed to have entered through the Parvez Khan border crossing. its driver, an Iranian national, is lying unconscious at the time of this writing.

 

According to a document The New Region has seen, the KRG’s agriculture ministry has prohibited the entry of tomato exports from neighboring countries since January 22 to support the local product. 

Worked for NRT for 12 years, Hama Karim is survived by two children.

He was just one-year-old when his father was buried alive during the notorious campaign of Anfal genocide carried out by the former Baath regime in the 80s of the last century.