Eighth Body Pulled From Iraq Shrine Landslide

Karbala, Iraq, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Aug, 2022 ) :The body of an eighth pilgrim was pulled from an Iraqi shrine on Monday, two days after its partial collapse in a landslide, with rescuers announcing an end to the search for more victims.

The Iraqi civil defence authorities said that the body of a woman had been pulled from the rubble and debris from the shrine known as Qattarat al-Imam Ali near the Karbala, bringing the total number of victims to eight.

In all, the bodies of five women, two men and a child had been recovered during 60 hours of rescue operations, which had now been terminated, the authorities said.

The shrine remains closed to the public, they added.

Earlier, Jawdat Abdelrahman, director of the civil defence media department, had told AFP that three children had been rescued and rushed to hospital.

Civil defence spokesman Nawas Sabah Shaker had said on Sunday that between six and eight pilgrims had been reported trapped under the debris of the shrine.

The three children rescued earlier were in "good condition" and being monitored in a hospital, emergency services had said on Sunday.

Search and rescue operations have been carried out since the shrine, which sits at the base of high, bare rock walls, became partially buried when earthen embankments collapsed on Saturday due to saturation from humidity, according to the civil defence.