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Sandstorms take further toll on nation

AN unrelenting series of intense sandstorms has continued to bring Iraq to a standstill – with rising hospitalisations and deaths.

Many merchants and labourers did not heed government calls to stay home as another sandstorm hit Iraq on Monday.

The sandstorm killed two people in neighbouring Syria’s eastern province of Deir el-Zour along the border with Iraq. Hundreds of people were taken to hospital after suffering breathing problems, adding that the dead were a father and his son in Deir el-Zour.

A young man suffocated in the village of Al-Harijia, north of Deir el-Zour.

Dust storms are a seasonal occurrence in Iraq but their frequency this year has alarmed experts, who blame drought, rapid desertification and climate change.

Yesterday, Baghdad governor Mohammed Jaber al-Atta suspended working hours in the province, with all departments excluding the Health Ministry temporarily closed.

The provinces of Wasit, Diwaniyah and Babil also declared

Monday a public holiday owing to the severity of the dust storm.

In the last major sandstorm on May 5, one person died in Iraq and 5000 people were admitted to hospital, the Health Ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr said yesterday that Iraq’s medical facilities were on alert.

Flights were suspended at

Baghdad, Najaf and Sulaymaniyah airports due to low visibility.

Climate activists have blamed inaction by the Iraqi government and poor water management policies for the increase in sandstorms. The phenomenon is expected to become more frequent amid record-low rainfall and rising summer temperatures.