The city of al-Kara suffocating in the smoke

Terrible black smoke hanging over the city of al-Kara. The air is poison. Children with blackened hands and faces playing under the toxic plume. Engineers and firemen fought the fire for 100 days. 6 of the 9 fires were extinguished, but the real extent of damage is yet to be determined.

Currently, there are 19 burning wells, 3 of which were sealed. It lost millions of dollars in lost income from oil sales. The terror group has damaged the oil field, to create a smokescreen when the Iraqi forces fought to expel them from al-Kari, which is located about 35 miles South of Mosul.

"ISIL terrorists did it," says lead engineer Fklaf Mohammed, working at the wells. "They did it to provide shelter from the aircraft and at the same time, to destroy and to take revenge on the square." Firefighters, engineers and oil workers must fight with inconceivable conditions to contain these fires and extinguish burning oil. The temperature is so high that land near wells melted.

Dozens of people work long days in these places, but gas masks are not enough. Some wrapped their faces with scarves. "This is a very complex process. You can't just put out the fire," Mohammed says. "You have to really reach the center of the well and to control it. And it is very difficult and dangerous." First, the equipment used to contain the fire and direct the oil flow away from people's homes. Employees then find the center of the well and down into her despite the fact that the fire is still burning on the surface. There they check if you can use well into the future. The leakage has been repaired with cement is a last resort, since it means that the well was no longer functioning in the future.

15 thousand residents of al-Kari continue to live in an environment that is damaging to their health. "Every day hospitals receive dozens of patients complaining of breathing problems," says Salah al-Zubri, the mayor of al-Kary. "All black. Clothing black. At home black. Even the cattle black. People wash clothes and 30 minutes later she's back in black."

sections: World News, Accidents, Accidents