BAGHDAD, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Up to seven bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a landslide on a Shiite shrine near the holy Shiite city of Karbala, the Iraqi Civil Defense said on Monday.
During the past hours, rescue teams recovered the bodies of a man and woman from the rubble that fell on the shrine of Qattarat al-Imam Ali, some 110 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Civil Defense said in a statement.
"The number of bodies that have been recovered by the civil defense rescue teams so far has reached seven, including four women, two men, and a child," the statement said.
Brigadier General Jawdat Abdul Rahman, head of the Civil Defense media office, told reporters that one last body is expected under the rubble, based on information obtained from the people present during the shrine's collapse, according to local media reports.
Abdul Rahman confirmed that the rescue team would continue their work until all bodies are removed from the site.
Meanwhile, Governor of Karbala province Nassif Jassim al-Khattabi said in a statement that the shrine site is now completely closed for safety reasons.
The landslide occurred on Saturday when a huge earthen mound fell on the adjacent shrine and destroyed part of its concrete building, leaving several people trapped under the rubble.
Many civil defense rescue teams from Karbala and nearby provinces rushed to the site and began to remove the rubble to save those trapped.
Late on Sunday, the Civil Defense said that the earthen mound fell due to "moisture saturation," according to initial reports about the landslide.
A separate statement by the Iraqi Health Ministry said that six people with various injuries had been rescued.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi instructed Minister of Interior Othman al-Ghanimi to directly supervise the rescue efforts at the site, according to a statement by al-Kadhimi's media office. ■