Iranian pilgrims killed in minibus crash in Iraq

Eleven Iranian pilgrims and their local driver died Sunday in central Iraq when their minibus collided with a truck and burst into flames, a health official said.

The vehicle carrying the pilgrims slammed into the parked truck in Babil province south of Baghdad, provincial health authorities spokesman Ahmed al-Jibouri told AFP.

“Eleven Iranians died on impact, along with their Iraqi driver,” he said, adding that four other pilgrims were in critical condition. He said a fire had erupted, and that the driver of the truck had been taken in for questioning.

Iran’s deputy interior minister Majid Mirahmadi said that “due to the seriousness of the accident and the fire, the bodies cannot be identified.”

Those of the Iranian victims “will be transferred to Iran for identification,” he told Iran’s Mehr news agency.