Fire, building collapse injures 28 people in Iraq's capital
Baghdad (AP): More than two dozen people were injured, including the head of Iraq's civil defence directorate, when a commercial building in the capital caught fire and then collapsed Sunday, authorities and the state news agency reported.
The official Iraqi News Agency said the civil defence director, Maj. Gen. Kadhim Bohan, and some firefighters were were among those injured when the burning building collapsed.
No deaths were reported. No information was immediately available on the cause of the blaze.
Brig. Gen. Qusai Younis, director of civil defense for the Al-Rusafa district of Baghdad, told The Associated Press that at least 28 people had been injured.
He said two of the three stories in the building, which contained warehouses storing flammable materials such as perfume, collapsed due to the fire.
The civil defense announced late Sunday evening that the fire had been fully extinguished and first responders were searching for missing people at the scene.
On Oct. 29, a gas tanker exploded near a soccer field in northeastern Baghdad, killing at least nine people and injuring 10 others. The explosion was found by an investigative committee to be an accident.
In The Video.. Fire continues to escalate from the site of Al-Waziriyah fire in Baghdad.#Iraq pic.twitter.com/hvrPkx7JiZ
— Alahad TV-EN (@ahad_en) November 6, 2022
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West Asia: India supplied 22,000 MT of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh in March, says MEA
New Delhi (PTI): Amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, India has supplied 22,000 metric tonnes of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh in March and has received a request from Seychelles and the Maldives to meet their energy requirements, the MEA said on Friday.
At his weekly briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in his response to a query related to requests received from India's neighbouring countries for fuel amid the West Asia situation, also said that India is "finalising a government-to-government agreement" for the supply of oil and gas, which will play an important role in reinforcing energy security of Mauritius.
The conflict in West Asia has now stretched to nearly 50 days, with global ramifications.
"So, we have received requests from our neighbouring countries for supply of fuel, and these are being looked into, keeping in mind our own requirements, availability and refining capacity," Jaiswal told reporters.
He further said India has "supplied 22,000 metric tonnes of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh in March 2026, and further supplies have continued this month as well".
"You would recall that last month we had supplied 38 metric tonnes of petroleum products to Sri Lanka as well," he added.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Mauritius last week, the MEA spokesperson said, adding, "We are finalising a government-to-government agreement for supply of oil and gas, which will play an important role in reinforcing the energy security of Mauritius".
As far as Nepal is concerned, there is an existing arrangement between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation to supply petroleum products to Nepal as per its requirements. The supplies are continuing without any interruption, he said.
Energy supplies to Bhutan also continue according to the existing arrangement.
"As I had mentioned earlier, we have received a request from Seychelles and the Maldives to meet their energy requirements. We continue to be in touch with them in this regard, and are considering the request keeping in mind our own domestic requirements and availability of fuel.
"I would also like to add that our neighbouring country governments have expressed appreciation for the uninterrupted supply, fuel supply to them during the West Asian conflict," Jaiswal said.
Global oil and gas prices surged after Iran restricted the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG trade.
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