41 dead, 144 wounded in Karbala’s arbaeen blasts – medic

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: A nearly final count of casualties from the blasts that targeted pilgrims in Karbala’s Imam al-Hussein arbaeen on Friday is 41 deaths and 144 others wounded, according to a local medic. “Most of the casualties are women and children,” the medic told IraqiNews.com news agency. He said that among the wounded there are 60 women and four children. “Some corpses and human body parts have not yet been identified,” the source said. The arbaeen pilgrimage is a religious occasion marking the 40th day after the death of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 on the Gregorian calendar). Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from inside and outside Iraq were flowing on foot into the city for the holy rituals. Tight security measures have been in force and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in Iraq’s holy sites in preparation for the occasion. Karbala, said to be housing the tombs of Imam al-Hussein and his brother Imam al-Abbas, lies 110 km southeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. MH (S)/AmR 3