More than 600 pilgrims in Iraq were briefly hospitalized with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as a result of a leak at a water treatment station, authorities said Sunday.
The incident took place during the night on the route between the two Sacred Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala, located in the center and south of Iraq, respectively.
This year, several million Muslim pilgrims are expected to arrive in Karbala, which houses the sanctuaries of the venerated Imam Husain and his brother Abbas.
There, they will mark the Arbaeen, the 40 -day mourning period during which the community commemorates the death of Husain, grandson of the prophet Muhammad (Pbuh).
In a brief statement, Iraq’s Ministry of Health said that “621 cases of suffocation have been recorded after a chlorine gas leak in Karbala.”
“Everyone has received the necessary attention and have abandoned the hospital in good health,” he said.
The security forces accused of protecting the pilgrims said that the incident had been caused by “a chlorine escape from a water station on the Karbala-Najaf road.”
Much of the Iraq infrastructure is in poor condition due to decades of conflict and corruption, with the fulfillment of often lax safety standards.
In July, a massive fire in a shopping center in the eastern city of Kut killed more than 60 people, many of whom suffocated in the bathrooms, according to the authorities.
