Frantic rescue effort under way at Iraq shrine hit by landslide

Operation continues to avoid wasting folks trapped beneath the rubble with at the least 4 lifeless on the Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine in Karbala province.

Iraqi rescue staff desperately looked for survivors buried beneath rubble after a landslide hit a Shia shrine, killing at the least 4 folks.

The official Iraqi information company INA, citing the civil defence service, mentioned on Sunday that 4 our bodies have been recovered from the particles on the Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine in Karbala province, central Iraq.

“We’ve got discovered 4 our bodies, together with of a lady,” civil defence official Abdelrahman Jawdat mentioned.

Between six and eight pilgrims are trapped within the shrine, civil defence spokesman Nawas Sabah Shaker mentioned.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from the capital Baghdad, mentioned many worshippers had gathered on the shrine through the Shia Muslim holy month of Muharram.

“Heavy equipment was delivered to the scene together with bulldozers and diggers,” he mentioned. “Relations are standing by, ready for any information about their family members.”

Three youngsters have been rescued following Saturday’s catastrophe, emergency providers mentioned, including they have been in “good situation” and being monitored at a hospital.

‘Mobilise all efforts’

Rescue groups working by the evening have been capable of present oxygen provides in addition to meals and water to a few of these trapped by gaps within the rubble, INA reported.

Iraq’s President Barham Saleh known as on the “heroic” rescue staff to “mobilise all efforts to avoid wasting the trapped folks”.

Emergency responders mentioned earlier that they have been sustaining verbal contact with the victims “to reassure them”.

The landslide on Saturday afternoon hit the shrine situated in a pure melancholy about 25km (15 miles) west of the Shia holy metropolis of Karbala.

The rocks and sand began sliding due to the “saturation of the earthen embankment adjoining to the shrine”, the civil defence service mentioned.

“This led to the collapse of about 30 p.c of the realm of the constructing, which measures about 100 sq. metres.”