10 People Killed in Northeast Syria As Dust Storm Hits W. Asia (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – At least 10 people died of breathing complication as a result of an unprecedented dust storm that hit some counties in Western Asia.
Hundreds of cases of suffocation have been reported in some northern Syrian provinces, especially Deir ez-Zur and Raqqa. The storm was described by the residents of the area as unprecedented due to its severity and the disastrous effects it caused.
Images obtained from social media show the effects of the damage to a region in north of Deir ez-Zur.
The storm also hit neighboring Iraq, leaving thousands of people in need of medical attention, the country’s Health Ministry said Monday.
The storm has also forced the suspension of flights at airports in the capital Baghdad, Najaf and Sulaymaniyah in southern and northern Iraq.
Meanwhile, the Saudi National Center for Meteorology warned of dust storms in several areas in the oil-rich kingdom. A similar warning was made by neighboring Bahrain.
In Kuwait, air flights were temporarily suspended over the storm, according to the state news agency KUNA.
In Iran, schools and government offices closed in the capital on Tuesday and elsewhere in the country after a sandstorm blanketed Tehran, state TV reported.
The report said the air quality was very poor and that the pollution from the dust was high. It was the third severe sandstorm in Iran since mid-April.
Dust and sandstorms have always occurred in Western Asia but grown more frequent and intense in recent years.
