Iraq sandstorm leaves 1,500 people with respiratory problems

Iraq sandstorm leaves 1,500 people with respiratory problems

According to health officials, approximately 1,500 individuals were transported to hospitals on Monday due to respiratory issues caused by a sandstorm in central and southern areas of Iraq.

Around 1,500 people were sent to hospitals with respiratory problems on Monday as a sandstorm hit central and southern Iraq, health officials said.

Hospitals in Muthanna province in southern Iraq received at least "700 cases of suffocation", local health official Mazen al-Egeili told AFP. More than 250 people were hospitalised in the central Najaf province, and hundreds more in the provinces of Diwaniyah and Dhi Qar, other health officials reported.