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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 traveling 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
p.m. 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 on
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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