Bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq crashes in Iran, killing at least 35 people

Tehran: A bus carrying Shiite pilgrims from Pakistan to Iraq crashed in central Iran, killing at least 35 people and 15 Injured, an official said Wednesday.

The crash happened Tuesday night in the central Iranian province of Yazd, said Mohammad Ali Malekzadeh, a local emergency official, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Another 15 people suffered injuries in the crash, some of them serious, he added.

There had been 51 people on board at the time of the crash.

The pilgrims had been on their way to Iraq to commemorate Arbaeen, which marks the 40th day following the death of a Shiite saint in the 7th century.