SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Dozens of people were hospitalized due to respiratory problems caused by a dust storm that has swept through much of Iraq, a health ministry spokesman said on Saturday.
The sandstorm erupted in the north of the country on Thursday, promoting the cancellation of flights serving Erbil. Sulaimani airport had also temporarily suspended flights.
As the storm swept south, it shrouded Baghdad and cities as far south as Nasiriyah in a ghostly orange, according to AFP.
The storm has caused “dozens of hospitalizations across Iraq due to respiratory problems,” AFP quoted health ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr as saying.
In Tuz Khurmatu, five people died due to breathing problems, according to Esta Media Network.
In the Kurdistan Region, at least 395 people including children had been admitted to hospitals as of Friday.
In Kirkuk, the dust storm had left 206 people in hospital with respiratory problems, Esta’s reporter in the city said on Friday.
The director of Iraq’s meteorological office, Amer al-Jabri, told AFP that while dust storms were not uncommon in Iraq, they are becoming more frequent “due to drought, desertification and declining rainfall”.
Iraq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in recent years.
Experts have said these factors threaten social and economic disaster in the war-scarred country.
In November, the World Bank warned that Iraq could suffer a 20 percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change.
