13 pilgrims, mostly Iranians, die in road accident in Iraq
Iranian pilgrims walk on a road past the Zurbatia border crossing between Iran and Iraq, on their way to Kerbala. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – 13 people, most of them Iranians, died and 17 others were injured in a terrible road accident in northern Iraq.
The accident took place on a road linking two cities in Salah Al-Din governorate, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
The Director of Salah Al-Din Health Directorate, Khaled Burhan, told INA that the accident occurred on a road between the cities of Dujail and Samarra, noting that the injured are in critical condition and that most of the dead are Iranians.
Burhan explained that hospitals in the governorate received the injured, where they underwent surgeries.
Additionally, at least 20 people, mostly Iranian visitors, died in traffic accidents that occurred in southern Iraq on Monday and Tuesday, according to security and medical sources.
These traffic accidents coincide with the influx of large crowds of pilgrims to the city of Karbala to commemorate the Arbaeen, an annual Shiite festival marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, by the forces of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
Decades of sanctions, civil strife, and corruption have left the country’s infrastructure, including roads, in dire conditions, according to Kurdistan 24.
According to a report issued by the Ministry of Health, more than 4,900 people died in traffic accidents in Iraq in 2022.