Two more Kurdish environmental activists who were injured while tackling a wildfire that broke out on 24 July on Mount Abidar in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, have died from their injuries, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported.
Chiako Yousefinezhad and Khabat Amini, who were receiving treatment at Kowsar Hospital in Sanandaj, died early this morning.
The two activists were among five people hospitalised after trying to contain the large blaze that spread across Mount Abidar last week.
Their deaths come just days after Hamid Moradi, a lawyer and director of the environmental organisation Shnay Nawzhin Kurdistan, died from severe burns in Sanandaj on 25 July.
Thousands of mourners gathered in the Hassanabad neighbourhood of Sanandaj this morning to attend Yousefinezhad’s burial ceremony.
The burial ceremony for Amini is scheduled to take place later today at the Behesht-e Mohammadi cemetery in Sanandaj.
Two other injured activists, Mohsen Hossein-Panahi and Seyyed Mostafa Hazhir, remain in critical condition at Kowsar Hospital.
The wildfire, which broke out on 24 July, prompted local environmentalists and volunteers to quickly mobilise to prevent it from spreading further.
Despite their efforts, the fire caused serious injuries due to a lack of adequate firefighting resources and protective equipment.
In recent years, at least 10 environmental activists have been killed or injured in similar efforts to extinguish forest fires in Kurdistan due to a lack of basic safety equipment and government negligence in addressing such emergencies.
Source: ANF News
