August 21, (THEWILL) – At least 28 people were killed and 23 others injured when a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims to Iraq overturned in the central Iranian province of Yazd on Tuesday night, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported.
The incident occurred in Dehshir village, Taft County, at around 9:50 p.m. local time on Tuesday night as the bus was en route to the Iran-Iraq border carrying Pakistani passengers who sought to attend the Arbaeen ceremonies, IRNA quoted Mohammad-Ali Malekzadeh, the Director General of the Provincial Crisis Management Department, as saying on Wednesday.
Malekzadeh added that out of those injured, 14 were in critical condition and under treatment in the province’s medical centres.
He said the provincial authorities were ensuring the necessary coordination with the Iranian Foreign Ministry to transfer those killed and wounded in the incident to Pakistan on board a plane.
Iran’s Traffic Police Chief, Seyyed Teymour Hosseini, said initial investigations showed that a technical defect in the bus’s braking system had led to the incident’s occurrence.
He said the traffic police experts were on the scene conducting further investigations.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, on Wednesday, expressed condolences over the deaths of the pilgrims, saying the incident “caused us deep sadness” and assuring that Iran’s relevant organisations and authorities were seriously continuing rescue, service and treatment operations.
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