Iraq: More than 30 dead in stampede at Shiite shrine

Karbala (Iraq): More than 30 pilgrims were killed and dozens injured Tuesday in a stampede at a major shrine in the Iraqi city of Karbala on the Shiite holy day of Ashura.

It is Iraq's deadliest mass stampede in recent history during Ashura, whose commemorative marches were previously targeted by Sunni extremist groups.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from around the world swarmed Karbala, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of

Iraq's capital Baghdad, to commemorate the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein.

The packed processions of black-clad worshippers made their way to his gold-domed shrine, carrying flags and crying out, "We sacrifice ourselves for you, Oh Hussein!" As the massive crowds pressed forward, a stampede broke out that left at least 31 people dead and more than 100 more wounded, according to Iraq's health ministry.

Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr said the death toll could rise as nine of the wounded were in critical condition.

Outside the Al-Hussein Medical City in Karbala, paramedics wheeled wounded people into the emergency room throughout the afternoon.

"The pilgrims started falling down all of a sudden," said a young man in a wheelchair who had been bruised around the eye and temple.

"They piled up one on top of the other. There was a stampede and people were suffocating," he said. The governor of Karbala said at least four million pilgrims had taken part in the procession that led to the stampede.

The governor of Karbala said at least four million pilgrims had taken part in the procession that led to the stampede.

Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi and Health Minister Alaa al-Din Alwan travelled to Karbala late Tuesday to visit the wounded as messages of support began pouring in, with President Barham Saleh expressing his "deep condolences" to the victims' families.

Hussein was killed in the year 680 by the forces of the Caliph Yazid, a major event which helped solidify the divide between what would become Islam's Sunni and Shiite branches.

Iraq is majority Shiite, but under ex-dictator Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime, the vast majority of Ashura commemorations were banned.