Karbala:
More than 600 pilgrims in Iraq were briefly hospitalized with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine following a leak in a water treatment station, the authorities announced on Sunday.
The incident took place during the night on the route between the two Saintes Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala, located in the center and south of Iraq respectively.
This year, several million Shiite Muslim pilgrims are expected to go to Karbala, who houses the sanctuaries of the Vénéré Hussein Imam and his brother Abbas.
There, they will mark the Arbaeen – the period of 40 days of mourning during which Shias commemorates the death of Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed.
In a brief declaration, the Iraqi Ministry of Health said that “621 cases of asphyxiation were recorded following a gas chlorine leak in Karbala”.
“All of them received the necessary care and left the hospital healthy,” he said.
The security forces responsible for protecting the pilgrims then said that the incident was caused by “a chlorine leak from a water station on the Karbala-Najaf road”.
Much of the Iraqi infrastructure is in poor condition due to decades of conflict and corruption, with accession to often lax security standards.
In July, a massive fire in a shopping center in the eastern city of Kut killed more than 60 people, many of whom were suffocated in the toilet, according to the authorities.
