9 schoolteachers among 11 dead in Iraq minibus crash

Eleven people including nine schoolteachers died in a head-on road crash south of Baghdad as they returned from a Ramadan meal, Iraqi authorities said Saturday, blaming speed.

The accident happened in Babylon province around midnight as the group was returning in a minibus from the Shiite holy city of Karbala, a police source said.

Their vehicle collided with a 4x4 travelling in the opposite direction "due to high speed and the driver of the second vehicle's lack of attention", a statement from road traffic authorities said, adding two people were injured.

The police source said the vehicles caught fire.