At least three people were killed and 48 others injured when a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims collided with a truck in southern Iran, state media reported on Monday (August 26, 2024).
In recent times, Shia Muslims have been heading to Iraq for a major observance, while Pakistanis often travel via Iran to attend Arbaeen commemorations.
Iran’s state news agency Irna He said a bus and a truck collided on the main road between the city of Neyriz in Fars province and Sirjan in Kerman province late Sunday, “leaving 48 people injured and three dead.”
It did not say how many people were on the bus.
Fars traffic police official Col. Abdul Hashem Dehghani said the accident was caused by a “technical fault” in the brakes and the driver’s “inability to control the vehicle,” according to IRNA.
It was the second road accident involving Pakistani pilgrims in less than a week, after a crash in central Iran killed 28 people travelling to Iraq for Arbaeen, one of the biggest festivals in the Shiite calendar.
Iran has a poor road safety record, and accidents will cause more than 20,000 deaths by March 2024, according to data from the Iranian Judiciary’s Legal Medicine Organization cited by local media.
Arbaeen, which marks the 40th day of mourning for Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, attracted a total of 22 million pilgrims last year, according to official figures.
Irna He said that by August 19 this year, around 25,000 Pakistani pilgrims had arrived from Iran to the Iraqi religious city of Karbala, where Hussein and his brother Abbas are buried.