Arbaeen procession: At least 9 Iranian citizens die in Karbala, more than 8,000 sick
Simultaneously with the release of official news of chaos on Iran's western borders due to the gathering of Iranian citizens to enter Iraq on the occasion of Arbaeen, the Iranian Red Crescent confirmed the deaths of nine Iranian citizens in Iraq.
According to Iranian media reports, Pirhossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, said on Friday, September 9, without mentioning the reasons for the deaths of these citizens, that this statistic only relates to the city of Karbala.
No reports have been published yet on the number of Iranian citizens killed in other Iraqi cities.
Meanwhile, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society has announced that so far more than 8,400 "Iranian pilgrims" have also visited the organization's centers in Iraq to receive medical services, more than 6,500 of whom have suffered from heatstroke.
Gholamreza Alimohammadi, CEO of the Ilam Red Crescent Society, also reported that 20 "Arbaeen pilgrims" were injured on the Dasht-e Abbas-Dehloran route due to a minibus overturning.
On September 6, the Iraqi Urban Relief Headquarters issued a statement announcing the death of two people, including an Iranian female citizen, following a fire in a hotel in Karbala.
Despite the Islamic Republic's widespread propaganda that facilities are ready for the government ceremony of the "Arbaeen March," based on public reports and social media users, and at the same time confirmed by official officials, the situation on the borders of Iran and Iraq and in Iraq's religious cities is chaotic, to the point that on Friday, September 8, Islamic Republic officials announced the closure of all borders leading to exit points for Iranians to Iraq due to "insufficient facilities, large crowds, and hot weather."
According to images posted on social media, thousands of Iranian citizens are trapped behind Iraqi borders without access to basic amenities.
Some users who have had experience of being at border points in the past hours and days have also warned of an incident worse than "Mena", an incident during the Hajj pilgrimage in 2015 that, according to official Saudi government statistics, left about 800 dead, while other sources put the number of victims at more than 2,000. This incident occurred due to crowding.
In addition to popular reports, official sources have also warned about the current situation on the country's western borders, including the head of the Arbaeen Central Headquarters, who said on Friday, referring to the inappropriate conditions and crowding, that "the continuation of the current situation will definitely pose serious risks to the safety and health of pilgrims."
An hour after the announcement, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, while urging Iranian citizens to return from routes leading to the borders, announced the police's readiness to block all routes, saying that in these circumstances, "it is not appropriate to have such large gatherings."
In recent months, Iranian officials have repeatedly announced the holding of a "magnificent Arba'in march" and estimated the number of Iranians traveling to Iraq for this religious occasion to be between five and more than six million. The website of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, also published a special message on September 6, referring to the event as a "global march."
Source: Radio Farda
