Local officials report at least 28 Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq were killed in a tragic but fatal bus accident in central Iran. The area’s emergency services official, Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, said the accident happened late on Tuesday night within Yazd province.
It was carrying 51 pilgrims headed for Iraq for Arbaeen; an important Shiite ritual marking forty days following Imam Hussein’s assassination.The occasion attracts millions of people every year in Karbala.
Another 23 suffered injuries with 14 being severe. The reasons for the accident have not yet been established. Iranian road safety problems are well known: poor observation of traffic rules, bad vehicles and weak provision of emergency services in rural areas lead to about seventeen thousand road fatalities per annum.
Earlier today, six people died while 18 others were injured following the crash of a bus on its way to Sistan and Baluchestan province. Both accidents are still under investigation by the authorities concerned.
