UPDATE - Death Toll From Shia Muslim Shrine Collapse In Iraq Rises To Seven - Red Crescent

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2022) At least seven people, including children, died in the city of Karbala in central Iraq, as a result of the collapse of the Qattara of Imam Ali, a Shia Muslim shrine, the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on Monday.

"Seven bodies, including women and children, were found by rescue workers, and the hunt for the missing is still ongoing," the IRCS said in a statement.

The Iraqi Red Crescent specified that over 70 of its volunteers have been involved in rescue efforts after the collapse of a dirt hill on the shrine.

"As four people were saved, the rescue teams stepped up their efforts to look for survivors, the rescue teams are operating cautiously out of concern for additional collapses," the IRCS said.

Earlier, the Iraqi Ministry of Health told Shafaq news that six people had been pulled from the rubble, while at least five people, including a child, died.

Iraqi authorities said on Sunday that at least one person died as a result of the collapse of the Qattara of Imam Ali. The mosque's ceiling collapsed on Saturday afternoon under a landslide.

Rescue teams have managed to retrieve three children from under the rubble, who were taken to a hospital, according to civil defense authorities. Iraqi emergency services have delivered oxygen, drinking water and food to the people still trapped under the rubble.