Deaths in Iraqi religious pilgrimage.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern T.D., expressed his shock and sadness today at the deaths of at least 600 Iraqis at a procession in northern Baghdad. The deaths occurred when the estimated one million pilgrims panicked at rumours of suicide bombers and in the ensuing disorder, people were trampled or pushed into the Tigris river.

The Minister said “I am deeply saddened at this truly horrendous loss of life. Our thoughts are with the families of those who died. It is doubly a tragedy that such a calamity has befallen people during a holy day of such significance to Shia Muslims.

“I find it particularly disturbing that it appears that the tragedy was triggered by rumours of suicide bombers among the crowd. This rumour was all the more credible since terrorists had already fired mortars into the crowd of pilgrims earlier in the day, killing at least 16 people. Far too often we have had reason to be outraged by the inhuman and cowardly actions of such terrorists, both in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. Today's cynical and deliberate attack on an entire community on one of its holiest days represents an appalling new low.”