Iraq Sand Storm leaves 1800 with breathing problems

Alfi Tubut

BBC World Service

The sand storm blankets of southern Iraq in orange fog

Ghetto images during a sandstorm in Nadjaf, Iraq, on April 14, 2024, a man wearing a black shirt with red and white stripes goes hand in hand with a woman wearing a black bar. They cross a busy road with cars like thick, orange cloud blankets and lights from the street lamps glittering around them. — The sand storm blankets of southern Iraq in orange fog

More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a sandstorm has passed to the central and southern parts of the country in Iraq, health officials said.

An employee in Mutana province reports to the AFP news agency at least 700 cases of what they said was a suffocation.

Footage, shared online, showed areas hidden in dense orange fog, with local media reporting a power outage and stopping flights in a number of regions.

Dust storms are common in Iraq, but some experts believe that they are becoming more and more common due to climate change.

The Iraq Ministry of Environment warned that the country would see more “Dust Days”

Ghetto images, a lonely man rides his motorcycle through an orange fog with a row of bright street lights, warmed up in Nadjaf, Iraq, on April 14, 2025. He rides under a bridge with long rows of boards extending to the fore. — The Iraq Ministry of Environment warned that the country would see more “Dust Days”

Pedestrians and police wore face masks to protect themselves from dust and paramedics were in place to help people with difficulty breathing, according to AFP.

Hospitals in Mutana Province in southern Iraq have received at least “700 cases of suffocation,” a local health official said.

More than 250 people were taken to a hospital in Nadjaf province, and at least 322 patients, including children, were sent to hospitals in the province of Divan.

Another 530 people report breathing problems in DHI Qar and Basra.

The southern provinces of Iraq for a sandstorm in an orange cloud that reduce visibility to less than one kilometer (0.62 miles).

Visibility is reduced to less than one kilometer

Ghetto images with red headlight cars move through the orange sandstorm on a busy road in Nadjaf, Iraq, on April 14, 2025, police carrying face masks and white shirts, a gesture to direct traffic in the orange cloud of the sandstorm. — Visibility is reduced to less than one kilometer

Authorities were forced to close the airports in the provinces Nadjaf and Basra.

The conditions are expected to gradually improve by Tuesday morning, according to local meteorological services.

Iraq is indicated by the UN as One of the five countries The most vulnerable to climate change as it encounters regular sand storms, swelling heat and water shortages.

Severe sandstorm in 2022 Leave one person dead and more than 5,000 need to treat respiratory diseases.

Iraq will experience more “dust days” in the future, according to its Ministry of Environment.

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