A minibus that was carrying at least 28 Pakistani pilgrims has met a fatal accident and overturned in central Iran; at least 28 have died and 23 others injured, according to state media. The crash happened at dawn on Wednesday in Yazd province as the bus was heading to the Iraqi city of Karbala for the Arbaeen spectacle, it said.
The local traffic police have conducted the first investigations: an Indian bus that collapsed on the Japanese car most likely was equipped with a faulty brake system. An official stressed that among the victims, there were women and men, 11 and 17, respectively; 7 of them were in the most dangerous state.
The rest were treated in a hospital; seven out of eleven patients were reported dead, while six others were reported free from the hospital by Ali Malekzadeh, the general director of crisis management in Yazd.
At the moment, tens of millions of Shia Muslims are in the process of celebrating Arbaeen, a religious festivity that involves travel across Iran. The function is celebrated to mark the fortieth day of grieving the death of Imam Yousef, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in 680 AD at Karbala. Several pilgrims decide to pilgrimage the distance of 80 kilometers from the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf to Karbala.
The pilgrimage to Mecca is expected to attract millions this year, following a figure of about 22 million pilgrims in the previous year. Iran’s road safety situation did not improve much, and the mortality rate was around 17,000 each year due to careless traffic rules, car statistics, and emergency services in rural areas.
