Deaths as fire erupts in Iraqi shrine city during Shia pilgrimage

A fire has killed four people in the Iraqi shrine city of Karbala as hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslim pilgrims began gathering to mark Ashura, emergency services said.

The blaze erupted in an alleyway near the mausoleum of Imam Hussein on Friday, the focal point of commemorations.

"According to preliminary reports, the fire was sparked by a gas bottle in the kitchen" of a refreshment tent set up for pilgrims and then spread into an adjacent market, an emergency services statement said.

Fire crews arrived on the scene and put out the blaze "in record time, despite the difficulty of moving fire trucks through the crowds of pilgrims", it added.

Ashura commemoration

Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), in a seventh-century battle.

Iraq was set to see the main observance of the Ashura on Saturday in Karbala, where hundreds of thousands are expected and many will rush toward the shrine to symbolise their desire to answer Hussein’s last cries for help in battle.