A fire at a university dormitory housing lecturers and students in Soran University left at least 14 people dead and 18 injured on Friday evening, the head of the local health directorate said.

The fire broke out at a building in the small city of Soran, east of Erbil, according to Kamaram Mulla Mohammed, head of Soran's health directorate.

State media confirmed the death toll.

Rudaw News Agency reported that the fire had been extinguished by Friday night.