ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Over 100 shops in Sulaimani's Dara Sutawaka caught on fire in the early hours of Saturday morning. The fire has since been brought under control by firefighting teams.

A fire in Sulaimani's local bazaar in Dara Sutawaka engulfed over 100 shops at 6:00am on Saturday.

The New Region understands that the cause of the fire has yet to be determined as of the time of this writing, civil defense teams however expect an electrical short circuit to be the culprit, with others on site citing a soldering issue as having caused the blaze.

Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir was captured visiting the site on Saturday morning after the fire was extinguished.

Dara Sutawaka is a local bazaar in the heart of Sulaimani's city center, housing shops, restaurants, clothing and grocery stores among others.

The blaze was brought under control by Sulaimani's firefighting teams in less than two hours; other than material loss, no casualties or injuries have been reported.

Investigations by civil defense teams are still ongoing to determine the cause of the fire and the magnitude of material loss resulting from the fire.