28 killed as bus carrying Shiite pilgrims crashes in Iran

Another 23 people injured in crash which occurred when pilgrims from Pakistan were on their way to Iraq to commemorate Arbaeen

Tehran: A bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq crashed in central Iran, killing at least 28 people, an official said Wednesday.

The crash occurred on 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.

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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.