Onlookers gather around the wreckage of a Kia Sportage and a Chrysler following a deadly collision on the highway between al-Sadir district and central Diwaniyah. The crash killed five members of one family and injured another person.
Five family members killed in Diwaniyah highway crash
DIWANIYAH – Five members of the same family were killed and one person was injured Saturday in a car crash on the highway between al-Sadir district and central Diwaniyah, according to local officials.
The collision involved a Kia Sportage and a Chrysler. Eyewitnesses said Diwaniyah’s first deputy governor, Imad al-Shibli, was passing by at the time and stopped with his convoy to assist, helping transport the victims to Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital.
“I was on my way to al-Hamzah district when I saw a crowd near the scene,” al-Shibli told 964media. “I stopped to carry out a humanitarian duty.” A video from the site showed him on the phone with an emergency services official, questioning the delay in ambulance response.
Amir al-Kanani, spokesperson for the Diwaniyah Health Directorate, confirmed that five bodies were received at the hospital, all members of one family who had been traveling in the Sportage. One injured individual from the Chrysler was also taken in for treatment.
Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.