Irbil (Iraq): Iraqi officials are working to identify the victims of a bus crash that killed 21 people over the weekend, a provincial official said Monday.
A passenger bus crashed and burst into flames Sunday in southern Iraq, in the latest deadly accident on the country’s poorly maintained roads.
Fourteen of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and have not been identified, said Ahmad Saleem, spokesperson for the Thi Qar provincial council. Two Iranian nationals are believed to be among the dead, though their bodies have not yet been identified, he said.
The bus was travelling from the city of Najaf – which is holy to Shiite Muslims and a frequent destination for pilgrims – to the southern port city of Basra when the crash occurred at around 3 pm Sunday in Thi Qar province, between Thi Qar and Diwaniyah, Saleem said.
In addition to the 21 people killed, another 20 were injured. The injured included two Iranians who were evacuated to Iran Monday morning through the Iranian Consulate in Basra, the official said.
Saleem attributed the crash to the road’s poor condition, noting that local authorities had previously flagged it as a safety concern. He added that a severe shortage of ambulances in the province had hampered the response to the crash.
Road accidents are common in Iraq, where decades of conflict, corruption and underinvestment have left much of the country’s infrastructure in disrepair. Highways are poorly maintained, many vehicles are aging, and traffic regulations are often not enforced.
In 2023, a bus carrying pilgrims to the Iraqi city of Karbala crashed north of Baghdad, killing 18 people.
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