Sandstorm leaves Iraqis choking and cities shrouded in orange haze

More than 1,800 people taken to hospital with breathing problems

A sandstorm in central and southern Iraq has shrouded cities in an orange haze, forcing airports to shut and leaving more than 1,800 people in hospital with respiratory problems.

The sandstorm 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.

A wheelchair-bound pedestrian is helped across a road in low visibility as a dust storm blows across in Basra, southern Iraq. All photos: AFP

A paramedic helps a patient to use an oxygen respirator as a dust storm blows in Najaf, central Iraq

A man walks along the median of a road past moving vehicles in low visibility conditions in Basra

A tricycle cart driver and a passenger wait in traffic in low visibility as dust storm blows in Basra. About 1,500 people were sent to hospitals with respiratory problems

A man sits on the bank of the Shatt Al Arab waterway as a dust storm blows across Basra

A pedestrian struggles to breathe as he walks along the side of a road through low visibility conditions due to a massive dust storm in Iraq's central city of Najaf on April 14, 2025. (Photo by Qassem al-KAABI / AFP)

Pedestrians risk crossing a road in low visibility in Basra

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 climate change, research by the UN 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.