At least 28 Pakistani pilgrims were killed and 23 others injured last night when their bus crashed in Iran’s Yazd city, Pakistan’s envoy to Tehran confirmed.
“In pursuit of their religious journey, 28 Pakistani zaireen laid down their lives last night in Yazd city in a bus accident. Another 23 are injured,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Mudassir Tipu, announced in a post on X.
According to Iran’s Mehr Agency, the bus overturned at the Dehshir-Taftan checkpoint in Yazd on Tuesday night and then caught fire.
The Pakistani pilgrims were headed through Iran to Iraq to attend the Arbaeen commemoration, which marks the 40th day of mourning for Imam Husain, the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Iran’s state-owned IRNA news agency quoted Ali Malekzadeh, Yazd province’s crisis management chief, as saying that 14 of the injured were in critical condition.Six of the wounded had been discharged from the hospital while the rest were receiving treatment at various facilities in Abarkuh, Taft, and Yazd, he said.
“The dead consisted of 11 women and 17 men,” Malekzadeh added.He said that the Yazd Governorate, in coordination with the Iranian foreign ministry, was arranging for an aircraft to transport the injured and deceased back to Pakistan.
Head of Iran traffic police, Teymour Hosseini, cited “technical failure in the brake system” and the “high inclination of the road” as the reasons for the crash.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) said it has activated its Crisis Management Unit to facilitate the repatriation of the deceased in the accident.“We express our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of Pakistani pilgrims who lost their lives in a tragic road accident in the Yazd city in Iran,” Mofa said in a press release.
It further said that on the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the Consul of Pakistan in Zahidan has been tasked with the responsibility of reaching the site of the accident and ascertaining the situation on the ground.
