Four bodies pulled from rubble of Iraq shrine: rescuers

Four bodies pulled from rubble of Iraq shrine: rescuers
Four bodies were pulled out of the rubble of a landslide next to a Shia shrine in the central Iraqi province of Karbala
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Rescue teams working through the night under floodlights were able to provide supplies of oxygen [Getty]

Iraqi rescue officials said Sunday they had recovered four bodies from the rubble of a Shia shrine hit by a landslide, adding that the search for survivors was continuing.

"We have found four bodies, including of a woman" at the site near Karbala, central Iraq, civil defence official Abdelrahman Jawdat told AFP. At least six pilgrims had been reported trapped under the rubble.

Rescue teams working through the night under floodlights were able to provide supplies of oxygen as well as food and water to people trapped through gaps in the rubble, said the state news agency INA.

The landslide on Saturday afternoon hit the shrine located in a natural depression about 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

The rocks and sand started sliding because of the "saturation of the earthen embankment adjacent to the shrine" due to humidity, the civil defence told INA.

"This led to the collapse of about 30 percent of the area of the building, which measures about 100 square metres (1,000 square feet)."