At least four people are dead as a result of a landslide that hit and destroyed a Shiite shrine in the Iraqi city of Kerbala on Saturday night.
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The Qattarat al-Imam Ali shrine is located in the western desert, about 28 km (17 miles) from the center of the holy city of Kerbala.
Initial information suggests that humidity had triggered the landslide, which hit the ceiling of the shrine and caused it to collapse, the civil defense service said in a statement.
Video: Reuters
Rescue workers managed to pull six survivors out of the rubble, three of whom were children.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry said officials believed that at six more people were still trapped.
"Rescue efforts are ongoing, and a special search and rescue team has arrived from Baghdad, as well as teams from nearby districts. The difficulty we're dealing with is that the place is narrow, surrounded by boulder peaks on three sides, leaving us only narrow access," the spokesman said.
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