Hundreds sent to hospitals due to sand storms in SE Iran

TEHRAN, Iran - As many as 833 people have been referred to medical centres in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan over the past five days due to health problems caused by sand storms, Xinhua quoted Iran's IRIB news agency report on Thursday.

Majid Mohebi, head of the province's Disaster Mitigation and Management Organisation, told IRIB that 128 of those people had been hospitalised mostly for breathing problems, heart or eye conditions caused by the sand storms.

Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Sajjadi, the head of the Sistan and Baluchestan Red Crescent Society, said that more than 6,000 face masks were provided to local residents in the storm-affected areas of the province.

Strong winds are expected to continue in the coming days, which may cause more sand storms, Mohsen Heidari, director general of the province's meteorological organiszation, was quoted as saying.

The province typically experiences strong summer winds from late May to late September in every year. - BERNAMA-XINHUA