Two killed, 24 Iranian pilgrims injured in Wasit bus crash

WASIT — Two Iraqi men were killed and 24 Iranian visitors injured Friday when a bus collided with a truck on the Al-Numaniyah–Karbala Road in western Wasit governorate, local officials said. Initial witness accounts suggested the driver may have fallen asleep.

A medical source at Al-Numaniyah General Hospital said the injured, all Iranian nationals, were treated for mostly minor to moderate injuries, including fractures and bruises.

“The driver and his assistant died in the collision,” the source said. Their bodies were transferred to the forensic medicine department in Al-Kut.

Health authorities have not confirmed the cause, but some passengers and witnesses said the driver appeared to be fatigued before the crash.

The Iranian visitors were traveling to Karbala for the annual Arbaeen pilgrimage, a major Shiite observance marking the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD. Millions of pilgrims from Iraq, Iran and beyond make the journey each year, many of them on foot.