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Three people electrocuted in Iraq floods: Medical officer

The victims had gone outside to switch off main supply to their homes for fear that power fluctuations would damage household electrical appliances

Published: Thu 13 Apr 2023, 2:44 PM

Updated: Thu 13 Apr 2023, 2:45 PM

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  • AFP

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A man walks along a street as heavy rainfall continues in Baghdad on Wednesday. — AFP

A man walks along a street as heavy rainfall continues in Baghdad on Wednesday. — AFP

At least three people have been electrocuted in central Iraq after torrential rain played havoc with the war-ravaged country's dilapidated power grid, a medical official said on Thursday.

The three deaths happened in separate incidents in the central province of Babil, said Dr Ahmed Sabbah, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the provincial capital Hilla.

The dead were aged 16, 22 and 30 and one of them was a woman, Sabbah told AFP.

They had all gone outside to switch off the main supply to their homes during Wednesday's storm, for fear that power fluctuations would damage their household electrical appliances.

The storm brought disruption to large parts of Iraq, not just Babil province, south of Baghdad.

Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani ordered civil servants to stay home nationwide on Thursday, except for key staff and security personnel.

In the northern Kurdistan region, the rains sent a river of mud pouring through the village of Khabat, with several shops suffering water damage, an AFP photographer reported.



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