ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - An explosion at a gas station in southeast Erbil early Saturday sparked a massive fire that engulfed the site and nearby vehicles, lightly injuring five people, witnesses said.

The blast occurred around 8 am when a fuel tanker caught fire, triggering an explosion that burned two other trucks and destroyed the gas station, according to eyewitnesses. Firefighters later brought the blaze under control.

The gas station owner told reporters that five people sustained burns to their arms and are lightly injured.

Stressing the scale of the blast, one closeby resident said, “I could feel the heat from the fire on my cheek outside my door [despite the distance]. All my house windows shattered.”

The fire is now under control according to The New Region’’s correspondent on site.

“We ask that gas stations not be built near homes - people could burn,” the resident added, describing scenes of panic as “all the women [in the area] were crying out of fear.”

The gas station was in southeast Erbil’s Farmanbaran.