More bodies picked up from Karbala shrine rubble

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi rescue teams picked up two additional bodies of a man and a woman from under the rubble following the landslide accident on a religious shrine in Karbala governorate in southern Iraq that took place on Saturday, bringing the total number of victims to seven, civil defense told AFP on Monday.

“Two bodies of a woman and a man were found this morning. This brings the number of casualties to seven: four women, two men and a child. Work is underway to search for other victims,” the spokesperson of the Iraqi Civil Defense, Abdel Rahman Jawdat, told AFP.  

Iraqi rescue teams found on Sunday the bodies of five people, three women, a man and a child, under the rubble after the collapse of a mound on a religious shrine in Karbala governorate.

“We found the bodies of two women, a man and a child. The fifth body was a woman, and work is ongoing to get it out of the rubble,” Jawdat explained. 

Jawdat elaborated that search operations will continue at the site until all the rubble is completely removed to make sure that there are no others trapped.

Until Sunday evening, civil defense teams were continuing their attempts to dig with hand tools to pull people who were still trapped under the rubble of Imam Ali shrine.

Security forces were at the scene to support the rescue efforts, while families were waiting near the site, according to AFP.