A sandstorm in central and southern <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/iraq/" target="_blank">Iraq</a> has shrouded cities in an orange haze, forcing airports to shut and leaving more than 1,800 people in hospital with respiratory problems. The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/08/15/what-causes-the-uaes-sandstorms-and-are-they-dangerous/" target="_blank">sandstorm</a> is Iraq's biggest this year and reduced visibility to less than one kilometre in some areas. Hospitals in Muthanna province in southern Iraq received at least "700 cases of suffocation", health official Mazen Al Egeili told news agency AFP. Another 250 people were taken to hospital in nearby Najaf province, the area's health directorate said. Police officers and pedestrians were pictured in Najaf wearing face masks to shield themselves from the suffocating cloud of dust. In the province of Diwaniyah, at least 322 patients, including children, attended hospital, said Amer Al Kinani, the provincial health department's media officer. In Dhi Qar and Basra provinces more than 530 people experienced breathing problems, health officials said. Authorities temporarily shut the airports in Najaf and Basra as the sandstorm hit. Iraq, which is regularly hit by sandstorms, is one of the five countries most affected by some effects of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/climate-change/" target="_blank">climate change</a>, research by the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/un/" target="_blank">UN</a> has found. In 2022, one person died and more than 5,000 were treated in hospitals across Iraq for respiratory ailments due to another heavy sandstorm. The Environment Ministry has warned the country can expect a rising number of "dust days" in the coming decades.
