Four killed returning from Arbaeen on the Najaf-Basra highway

BASRA — Four members of the Bani Amer procession were killed and four injured in a road crash early Tuesday as they returned from Arbaeen ceremonies in Karbala, a security source told 964media.

The crash happened on the Najaf-Basra highway near the Subba area. Ambulance crews took the injured to hospital and the four bodies to the forensic medicine department, the source said. No further details were given on the cause or the vehicles involved.

Arbaeen falls on Tuesday, the 40th day after Ashura, marking the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680. Millions travel to his shrine in Karbala, many walking part of the route, and more than 4.4 million pilgrims had entered Iraq from abroad by Sunday, the Security Media Cell said.

Road deaths are among the leading causes of accidental death in Iraq. Health Ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said this year that the country recorded 521,810 traffic injuries and 13,869 deaths between 2023 and 2025 — 175,455 injuries and 5,400 deaths in 2023, 192,000 and 4,550 in 2024, and 154,355 and 3,919 in 2025. Young people are the most affected group. Officials attribute fatal crashes to speeding, distracted driving, dangerous overtaking and failure to observe traffic laws.

The General Traffic Directorate recorded nearly 44,000 speeding violations during the 2025 Arbaeen period using radar installed along highways, according to Iraq’s Higher Security Committee for Mass Pilgrimages.