Over 25 Killed in Bus Crash in Central Iran Carrying Shiite Pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq

TEHRAN, Iran: A bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq crashed in central Iran, killing at least 28 people, an official said Wednesday.
The crash happened Tuesday night in the central Iranian province of Yazd, said Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, a local emergency official, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Another 23 people suffered injuries in the crash, 14 of them serious, he added.

There had been 51 people on board at the time of the crash.

The pilgrims had been on their way to Iraq to commemorate Arbaeen, which marks the 40th day following the death of a Shiite saint in the 7th century. Pilgrims gather in Karbala, Iraq, in what's regarded as the largest annual public gathering in the world.

Authorities offered no immediate cause for the crash. However, Iran has one of the world's worst traffic safety records with some 17,000 deaths annually. The grave toll is blamed on wide disregard for traffic laws, unsafe vehicles and inadequate emergency services in its vast rural areas.

A separate bus crash early Wednesday in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province killed six people and injured 18, authorities said.

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