Funerals held in southern Pakistan for 28 Shiite pilgrims who died in a bus crash in Iran

In southern Pakistan, mourners gathered to attend the funerals of 28 Shiite pilgrims who lost their lives in a tragic bus accident during their journey to Iraq. The victims were laid to rest in various graveyards in the Sindh province following the crash near the Iranian city of Taft. The bus crash occurred about 500 kilometers southeast of Tehran, but authorities have yet to determine the exact cause of the accident.

The bodies of those who perished, as well as the injured, were repatriated to Pakistan by a military aircraft at the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. All the individuals affected by the accident hailed from Sindh province, where the plane carrying them landed. One of the victim’s fathers, Zawaar Javed, recounted receiving a message from his son via WhatsApp just moments before the tragic incident, informing him that the bus’s brakes had failed.

According to a report by a local Iranian emergency official, Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, the bus’s brake failure and the driver’s lack of attention were cited as contributing factors to the crash. The Pakistani pilgrims were en route to the holy city of Karbala in Iraq to observe Arbaeen, a religious commemoration marking the end of the 40-day mourning period following the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein met his demise in the Battle of Karbala at the hands of the Umayyad forces during the early centuries of Islam’s history.