At least 28 pilgrims from Pakistan were killed in Iran when their bus overturned on Tuesday night while traveling to commemorate a Shiite Muslim holiday, state-run media in Iran has reported.
The bus was heading to the Iraqi city of Karbala for Arbaeen, a two-day holiday that begins on Sunday evening, draws tens of millions each year and is one of the world’s largest organized gatherings.
At least 23 other passengers were wounded, 14 of whom were critically injured, the state-run news agency IRNA reported, adding that Iran was working to repatriate the bodies and fly the injured back to Pakistan.
Many of the pilgrims came from Sindh Province in the south of Pakistan, Pakistani officials and local news media said.
Video broadcast on state-run Iranian television showed a yellow and red bus lying upside down. Its big wheels were up in the air. The doors to the luggage storage compartments under the bus had fallen open. Men looked around a gnarl of metal and machinery with flashlights, searching.
The accident took place in Yazd, a province in central Iran, the state media said. The journey from Pakistan, through Iran and on to Karbala can extend 1,100 miles. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Traffic accidents are a systemic problem in Iran, where hazardous roads are a source of concern. The government has been trying to reduce road deaths by 10 percent, but fatalities rose 15 percent in 2022 compared with 2019, according to a paper published in June in The Lancet, a medical journal.
The United Nations Road Safety Fund is also working on a multiyear project to improve highway regulation in the country, saying: “Iran’s performance in policymaking and implementation needs to be radically improved.”
During Arbaeen, the roads may be even more crowded in Iran, which is predominantly Shiite. Last year, the BBC reported, 25 million people participated in the journey. That same year, about 1.8 million people traveled to the Hajj, in Saudi Arabia, according to government data.
There are additional risk factors for people passing through Iran on their way to Karbala, which is about 60 miles southwest of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital: Many people drive for days across hot, bright roads, while struggling to navigate unfamiliar terrain.
The holiday commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. He was an important leader in Shiite Islam and is said to have been killed in a massacre in Karbala more than 1,300 years ago.
Iranian officials offered their sympathy and condolences to the families of the crash victims on Wednesday. Pakistan’s leadership mourned the deaths, too. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on social media that he was “deeply saddened.”
Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, pledged to help families and thanked Iran for its “excellent cooperation.” He said that every year, at least 50,000 Pakistani pilgrims visited Iran to see the holy sites. Most were Shiites, he said, and many continued on to Iraq.
“I have no words to express grief,” he wrote on social media, “but I can assure that I will do my very best for repatriation of those who passed away.”
Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad. Nader Ibrahim contributed video production.
Read More: Bus of Pilgrims From Pakistan Crashes in Iran, Killing at Least 28
