Shafaq News – Karbala (Updated on September 7 at 11:17 a.m.)

Iraq’s Civil Defense Directorate on Sunday completed a 13-hour rescue mission at the collapsed al-Atayshi Bridge near the Bab Baghdad entrance in Karbala.

According to a statement from the directorate, teams worked in “perilous conditions” beneath a structure with only 25 centimeters of clearance, managing to save seven people and recover two bodies.

On Saturday, a local source reported that the bridge collapse injured at least nine people while it was still under construction. In response, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani instructed the Higher Commission for Coordination among Provinces and Karbala authorities to form an investigative committee to determine the cause and identify those responsible.