At least 28 Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan die in bus accident in Iran
At least 28 Pakistani Shiite pilgrims were killed in a bus accident in Iran on Tuesday evening while on their way to the Arbain festival in Karbala, Iraq. Photo: IRIB/EPA-EFE
Aug. 21 (UPI) – At least 28 Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan died in Iran when their bus overturned and caught fire on Tuesday evening.
A total of 51 passengers were on the bus. According to Ali Malekzadeh, a local civil protection official, 11 women and 17 men were killed in the accident. Another 23 people were injured, 14 of them seriously.
Malekzadeh said the bus overturned while swerving and went off the road “due to the driver’s lack of control, lack of road knowledge, high speed and technical problems.”
Two buses full of pilgrims traveled through Iran towards Iraq to take part in the Shiite Arba’in rituals.
The pilgrimage marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein. Devotees travel to Karbala to visit his grave.
Last year, around 25 million people took part in the largest annual pilgrimage in the world.
Syed Athar Shamsi, who led the convoy of two buses, told Geo TV that the bus in front of him had crashed.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “We express our deep condolences and sympathy to the families of the Pakistani pilgrims who lost their lives in a tragic road accident in the Iranian city of Yazd.”
The statement said the Pakistani ambassador in Tehran had been instructed to obtain precise details of the incidents and to coordinate with local authorities “to provide medical assistance to the injured and arrange for the repatriation of the bodies to Pakistan. Most of them are residents of Sindh province.”
