A bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq crashed in central Iran. The crash killed at least 28 people, an official said Wednesday.
The crash occurred Tuesday night in the central Iranian province of Yazd. Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, a local emergency official, reported this information. The state-run IRNA news agency provided the details.
Another 23 people suffered injuries in the crash, 14 of them serious, he added. He said all the bus passengers hailed from Pakistan.
There were 51 people on board at the time of the crash outside of the city of Taft, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Iranian state television later broadcast images of the bus, turned upside down on the highway with its roof smashed in and all its doors open. Rescuers stepped gingerly through the broken glass and debris littering the road.
In the state TV report, Malekzadeh blamed the crash on the bus brakes failing and a lack of attention by its driver.
In Pakistan, authorities described those on the bus as coming from the city of Larkana in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep sadness over the crash and stated that diplomats were assisting those affected.
“My thoughts are with the bereaved families,” Sharif said on the social platform X.
Iran has one of the world’s worst traffic safety records with some 17,000 deaths annually. The high toll results from widespread disregard for traffic laws, unsafe vehicles, and inadequate emergency services in rural areas.
The Shiite pilgrims had been on their way to Iraq to commemorate Arbaeen.
Arbaeen
Arbaeen — Arabic for the number 40 — marks the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, at the hands of the Muslim Umayyad forces in the Battle of Karbala. This battle occurred during the tumultuous first century of Islam’s history. His followers viewed Hussein as the rightful heir to the prophet’s legacy. Consequently, when he refused to pledge allegiance to the Umayyad caliphate, the Umayyad forces killed him in the battle. As a result, this event cemented the schism between Sunni and Shiite Islam.
People regard the gathering in Karbala, Iraq, as the largest annual public event in the world. The event draws tens of millions of people each year. Already, Iranian police said 3 million pilgrims had left the country’s borders for Karbala.
A separate bus crash early Wednesday in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province killed six people and injured 18, authorities said.
This news is sourced from [AP] and is for informational purposes only.
