Iran extends condolences over deaths of 28 Pakistani pilgrims in bus accident in Yazd

Iran’s first vice president has offered his condolences over the deaths of at least 28 Pakistani pilgrims heading to the Iraqi holy city of Karbala for Arbaeen pilgrimage in a bus crash in the central Iranian province of Yazd on Tuesday night.

Mohammad Reza Aref stressed on the provision of all necessary services and medical treatment for the 23 others injured in the tragic incident which happened near Taft, 500 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tehran.

A preliminary police investigation cited a defective braking system as the cause of the incident.

Medical teams and facilities were deployed to the accident site immediately after the incident and the families of the victims have been provided with temporary accommodation, according to Yazd’s Provincial Governor Mehran Fatemi.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has also been instructed to repatriate the bodies of the deceased and provide aid to the wounded.

Iran is a transit route for pilgrims from the eastern neighbors, Pakistan and Afghanistan, to participate in the annual pilgrimage of Arbaeen in Iraq.

Every year, over 20 million pilgrims, mainly Shia Muslims, attend the event, which marks the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shia Imam, Hussein ibn Ali, and his companions in 680 AD on the plains of Karbala.

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