Iraq: Rescue operations after landslide hits Shia shrine

At least seven people have died after a landslide hit a Shia shrine on the outskirts of the Shia holy city of Karbala on Saturday.

Rescue workers searched through the rubble into the night yesterday at the Qattarat Al-Imam Ali shrine after the mosque’s ceiling collapsed.

“We have found four bodies, including [one] of a woman” at the site near Karbala, central Iraq, civil defence official Abdelrahman Jawdat was quoted as saying by AFP.

Civil defence spokesman Nawas Sabah Shaker also told the agency that “between six and eight people are still caught” under the rocks and debris of the shrine.

Three children have been rescued and are said to be in “good condition” and being monitored at a hospital.

According to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), a statement by the Civil Defence Directorate issued this morning said: “The number of bodies that have been recovered by the civil defense rescue teams until this moment is only 7: 4 women, two men and a child.”

The Governor of Karbala province, Nassif Al-Khattabi, yesterday announced the complete closure of the sites “as it poses a danger to the citizens.”

Iraqi President Barham Saleh took to Twitter to praise the “heroic” rescue workers to “mobilise all efforts to save the trapped people”. Neighbouring Iran has also offered its condolences to the victims of the incident.

The shrine attracts thousands of pilgrims every year and is dedicated to Imam Ali, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). According to Shia tradition, Imam Ali stopped with his army on the way to the Battle of Siffin in 657 CE and removed a boulder that was blocking a source of water, causing a spring to gush forth. The site is known as Qattarat (Droplets) and is indicated by a small pool under a steep rocky hill from where water drips down.

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