{"id":4164,"date":"2025-04-15T02:58:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T02:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4164"},"modified":"2025-04-15T02:58:26","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T02:58:26","slug":"iraq-sandstorm-leaves-1800-with-breathing-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4164","title":{"rendered":"Iraq sandstorm leaves 1,800 with breathing problems"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Alfie Tobutt<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC World Service<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Watch: Heavy sandstorm causes orange haze and low visibility across southern Iraq<\/figcaption><\/p>\n
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More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a sandstorm swept across Iraq’s central and southern parts of the country, health officials said.<\/p>\n

One official in Muthanna province reported to the AFP news agency at least 700 cases of what they said was suffocation. <\/p>\n

Footage shared online showed areas cloaked in a thick orange haze, with local media reporting power cuts and the suspension of flights in a number of regions.<\/p>\n

Dust storms are common in Iraq, but some experts believe they are becoming more frequent due to climate change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Iraq’s environment ministry has warned the country will see more “dust days”<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Pedestrians and police wore face masks to protect themselves from the dust and paramedics were on site to assist people with difficulty breathing, according to AFP.<\/p>\n

Hospitals in Muthanna province in southern Iraq received at least “700 cases of suffocation”, a local health official said.<\/p>\n

More than 250 people were taken to hospital in Najaf province, and at least 322 patients including children were sent to hospitals in Diwaniyah province. <\/p>\n

A further 530 people reported breathing issues in Dhi Qar and Basra provinces.<\/p>\n

The sandstorm blanketed Iraq’s southern provinces in an orange cloud that reduced visibility to less than one kilometre (0.62 mile).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Visibility was reduced to less than one kilometre<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The authorities were forced to shut down airports in the provinces of Najaf and Basra.<\/p>\n

Conditions are expected to gradually improve by Tuesday morning, according to local weather services.<\/p>\n

Iraq is listed by the UN as one of the five countries<\/a> most vulnerable to climate change as it encounters regular sandstorms, sweltering heat and water scarcity.<\/p>\n

A severe sandstorm in 2022<\/a> left one person dead and more than 5,000 needing treatment for respiratory illnesses.<\/p>\n

Iraq will be experiencing more “dust days” in the future, according to its environment ministry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alfie Tobutt BBC World Service Watch: Heavy sandstorm causes orange haze and low visibility across southern Iraq More than a thousand people have been left with respiratory problems after a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[5373,1911,79,1494,5372],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nIraq sandstorm leaves 1,800 with breathing problems - Frisco Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The sandstorm blanketed southern regions in an eerie, orange haze and shut down airports.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4164\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq sandstorm leaves 1,800 with breathing problems - 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