BAGHDAD-(MaraviPost)- At least seven people including a child have died following a landslide that struck Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine near the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad.
Iraq’s civil defense department confirmed the toll adding that among the victims were four women, two men and a child.
The landslide had hit the ceiling of the shrine, which lies in a natural depression, causing it to cave in and dumping a stream of rock and mud inside the structure, reported Independent News.
The shrine contained a spring where Shia believe the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, and his army stopped to drink from while on their way to a battle in 657.
The cause of the landslide was not immediately known but the civil defense suspected that high humidity could’ve attributed to the landslide.
The country’s President Barham Saleh has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and has commended the rescuers for responding to the incident with speed and working tirelessly to pull people out of the rubble.
Nassif Gassim al-Khatabi, Karbala’s provincial governor, has disclosed that the shrine area will be closed pending an investigation.
In 2019, at least 31 pilgrims were killed and about 100 were injured when a walkway collapsed and set off a stampede in Karbala when thousands of Shiite Muslims were marking Ashoura, one of the most solemn days of their religious calendar.
