TEHRAN – The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) dispatched a total of 44,000 rescuers and medical staff to provide services for the Arbaeen pilgrims.

Some 40,000 rescuers are on duty inside the eastern and northern borders and the communication axes of the western borders, and the rest, which include 2,800 medical personnel and 1,200 rescuers, are sent to Iraq, IRCS head Pir-Hossein Kolivand said.

In addition, 50 ambulances, 6 ambulance buses, rescue vehicles, and medicine trucks were also sent to the region, he added.

The IRCS relief and treatment bases as well as fixed and mobile hospitals are located in Najaf city, ready to provide services to pilgrims, he noted.

The Arbaeen pilgrimage, which is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (AS), the third Imam of Shia Muslims, and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Each year, a huge crowd of people flocks to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located, to perform mourning rituals.

This year Arbaeen falls on September 17.

Before the outbreak of coronavirus, some 2 to 3 million Iranians attended annually in the Arbaeen march. However, last year, the rituals were held virtually to avoid the transmission of the disease.

FB/MG