Iraq hit by another sandstorm, Baghdad airport closes airspace

Medical officers say lots of of Iraqis in Baghdad and different cities went to hospitals with respiration difficulties.

A road vendor sells cigarettes throughout a sandstorm in Baghdad on Might 16 [Hadi Mizban/AP Photo]

The most recent heavy sandstorm to hit Iraq has pressured some colleges and places of work to shut, whereas flights at Baghdad Airport have additionally been suspended.

The training ministry and different places of work declared Monday a day without work for native authorities establishments, except well being providers. Based on medical officers, lots of of individuals throughout Baghdad and southern cities went to hospitals with respiration difficulties.

Baghdad Worldwide Airport mentioned in an announcement that it was closing its airspace and halting all flights till additional discover due to low visibility. The state-run INA information company reported that airports in Najaf and Sulaimaniyah had been additionally closed for the day.

It's the eighth mud storm since mid-April to hit Iraq, which has been battered by soil degradation, intense droughts and low rainfall linked to local weather change.

A person pushes a cart throughout a sandstorm in Baghdad on Might 16 (Hadi Mizban/AP Photograph)

The final one earlier this month led to the loss of life of 1 individual whereas 5,000 others needed to be hospitalised for respiratory issues.

“It’s each three or 4 days now,” mentioned taxi driver Ahmed Zaman, 23. “It’s clearly a results of local weather change and lack of rain, every time there’s wind it simply kicks up mud and sand.”

In Baghdad and southern Iraqi cities, a purple haze of mud and sand lowered visibility to just some hundred ft.

Folks with respiration issues are handled at a hospital throughout a sandstorm in Baghdad, Might 16 [Hadi Mizban/AP Photo]

“We’ve had 75 circumstances of individuals with respiratory issues,” mentioned Ihsan Mawlood, an accident and emergency physician in a Baghdad hospital. “We’re treating sufferers with oxygen machines if obligatory.”

Authorities in seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces, together with Baghdad, ordered authorities places of work shut. Iraq is the fifth-most susceptible nation on this planet to the local weather disaster, in line with the United Nations.

Iraq is susceptible to seasonal sandstorms however specialists and officers are elevating the alarm over their frequency in recent times, which they are saying is exacerbated by record-low rainfall, desertification and local weather change.

The World Financial institution has warned that Iraq might doubtlessly undergo a 20 % drop in water sources by 2050.

A girl walks previous a statue of Iraqi poet Abdel Ghani Maarouf al Rusafi throughout a sandstorm in Baghdad, Might 16 [Ahmed Saad/Reuters]