The explosion a night earlier in the city of Sulimaniyah destroyed three homes and also injured 16 people, the AP reported.
On Thursday night, officials in Sulimaniyah and local media reports said that an unknown number of people were trapped under the rubble.
Authorities said the explosion was caused by a liquid gas tank. Civil defense teams were combing through the rubble in search of survivors.
“A total of 15 bodies have been pulled out from under the rubble,” said the head of Civil Defense in Sulimaniyah, Diyar Ibrahim, according to the official Iraqi News Agency. He said search operations continued into the early hours of Friday, adding that there are no more bodies under the rubble.
The provincial governor, Haval Abu Bakrin, said a child was among the victims, INA reported.
MNA/PR