Iraq | Five pilgrims killed in the landslide of a Shiite shrine

(Kerbala) Rescuers managed to locate five bodies of pilgrims on Sunday in the rubble of a Shiite shrine the scene of a landslide in central Iraq.

After more than 24 hours clearing rocks, planks of wood and other debris from Imam Ali’s Qattarat in Kerbala, “we found five bodies,” Civil Defense General Abdelrahmane Jaoudat told AFP.

“This could be the final toll,” he said, adding that the search was continuing in case other victims were still buried.

From this sacred building of relatively modest size surrounded by rock walls, the rescuers helped by diggers managed to get out the bodies of two women, a man and a child. They also located “the body of a woman”, which they are still trying to extract, detailed General Jaoudat.

On Saturday, three children were rescued under the gaze of families who were waiting for news of their loved ones, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.

They “have been hospitalized but are in good health”, according to the emergency services.

During this rescue, the rescuers managed to transmit oxygen, food and water to the people trapped under the rubble. They also claimed to maintain verbal contact with the victims “to reassure them”, according to the official INA agency.

The tragedy took place on Saturday afternoon when a portion of the rock broke off “due to the high humidity” and fell on the building, said Civil Defense spokesman Nawas Sabah Shaker.

This landslide caused the collapse of “about 30% of the surface of the building of about 100 square meters”, he added.

And, warns General Jaoudat, “any mistake could lead to new collapses”.

” We want to know ”

A witness, Bassem Khazaali, told AFP that his nephew was trapped under the rubble “when the roof collapsed” on Saturday. “I am afraid that all the efforts undertaken will be in vain […]. We want to know what happened, why it happened,” he added.

Outside and inside the building, the police, the army and the men of Hachd al-Chaabi, former paramilitaries integrated into the Iraqi armed forces, secured the site.

In a tweet, President Barham Saleh called on “heroic” rescuers to “mobilize all their efforts to save those trapped”.

Prime Minister Mostafa al-Kazimi urged his Interior Minister “to directly monitor the work of the rescuers on the ground” while wishing “a speedy recovery” to the injured.

Imam Ali’s Qattarat is located about 25 km west of the holy Shia city of Karbala and it attracts pilgrims by the thousands every year. It is dedicated to Imam Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and founding figure of Shia Islam.

According to Shia tradition, Imam Ali stopped here with his army on his way to the Battle of Siffin in 657 and caused a spring to spring there.

In January, six people were killed when scaffolding collapsed inside Imam Hamza’s mausoleum in Babylon province, also in central Iraq.