A scene from the fatal traffic collision between a passenger bus and a fuel tanker in Dhi Qar, June 7, 2026.
Dhi Qar declares three days of mourning after bus crash kills 21
DHI QAR — Dhi Qar Provincial Council on Monday declared three days of official mourning following a highway bus crash near Al-Bathaa district that killed 21 people and injured 19 others.
The announcement came after a bus collided with a fuel tanker, overturned and caught fire on the highway linking Dhi Qar and Basra. The victims included Iraqi citizens and Iranian visitors, according to health officials.
In a statement, the provincial council said it was declaring three days of mourning for those killed in the crash. Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the circumstances and causes of the incident.
Health Ministry spokesperson Saif Al-Badr said the crash resulted in the deaths of 21 people, including several whose bodies were severely burned and transferred to the forensic medicine department. Nineteen others were injured.
“All of the injured have been transferred to hospitals for treatment,” Al-Badr said, adding that medical teams are continuing efforts to identify the victims.
A preliminary toll provided by a security source speaking to 964media on Sunday reported 18 people killed and 17 injured before health authorities later announced the final casualty figures.
The crash comes two days after three Defense Ministry personnel were killed in a collision on the Baghdad-Kirkuk highway.
Iraq recorded 2,103 fatal crashes killing 2,719 people in 2024, a 10 percent decline from 3,019 deaths the previous year, according to Ministry of Planning figures covering governorates outside the Kurdistan Region. Men accounted for 82 percent of fatalities. Authorities cite speeding, poor infrastructure, distracted driving and weak enforcement as the main causes of deadly accidents.