Surviving Azerbaijani pilgrim: Only 3-4 people came down to help us, others didnt move a muscle

Earlier, we have reported about the incident that happened Diyala province (densely-populated by Kurds) on October 13. Due to a mine blast on the road, Azerbaijani pilgrim Intigam Rustamov was killed, Elvin Aslanov, Abdullayev Elchin Tahir and Abdullayev Elchin Vahid were wounded. There were 54 pilgrims in the delegation from Azerbaijan. 50 of them continued pilgrimage.

One of Azerbaijani pilgrims, who survived the blast, 24 year old Elvin Aslanov is still in intensive care, because of the blast. A few days after the teract, Aslanov was taken back to Baku, and he ended up in the hospital, where he had to undergo an operation, that went on for 7 hours.


Tell us, how did this happen?

The trip to Kerbala was iniciated by three believers from Fatimei Zakhra mosque, they organized the whole thing. At first, it was planned to create a group of pilgrims of about 35 people, but there were a lot more, and in the end there were like 54 people. So, on 10th of October, at 23:00, we left Baku and the next morning we were in Iran. In 2 days, we passed the Iraqi border, where we had to change the bus.

Why did you have to change the bus?

You see, in Iraq, they dont really like cars with Iranian numbers, so in Iraq the border patrol prevented us from going, since it was martial law, and there was danger of the bus being shot at by terrorists during the night. We stayed the night in the hotel, and in the morning we continued our trip. We were also provided with another small bus. Along with 2 buses, we were accompanied by a military truck. We had like 5-10 mins of going till the destination point, when the small bus got blown up.

Was the bus shot at?

No, we blew up on a mine. People used to say,that the mine was detonated by a remote control. I was wounded in my hand and back. Aside from me, my step brother Elchin Abdullayev and his friend Elshan were wounded as well. Two iraqis, the driver, and quide - were also wounded due to the blast. One of ours, Intigam Rustamov was dead.

What happened to the bus that was going ahead of you?

Nothing, it successfully passed on.

Did the passengers of that bus helped those who got blown up in the small bus?

3-4 men did step down, to help us out. The others stayed in the bus, and watched, without moving a muscle. Later, they just continued their trip, like nothing happened.

Did the representatives of Azerbaijani embassy in Jordan (which is accredited in Iraq) helped you out somehow?

No. That same iraqi that helped us, he asked his friend to take care of us. So his friend, Ali took me to his arabic family, and they took good care of me. They visited me in the hospital every day. I felt like it was a family of my own. Aside from that, Elchin and Elshan were stationed in the hospital in Diala as well. Later, the mayor of the city visited us, and expressed his concern about this happening to us.

How many days were you in the hospital?

After I was operated on, I spent 6 days in the hospital. Later on, that same quide, who helped us out took us, and helped to cross the iraqi-iranian border. On the border we were met by the representatives of iraqi tourism company, who organized the trip. They provided us with a bus, and we came back to Baku, where we were met my the press representatives.

When did you arrive in Baku?

I arrived in Baku on 18th of October, and the next day I was placed in the medical clinic, where i was operated on. But then, 2 days later, my baxk started hurting again, I lost some blood as well. I was put into hospital, where I undergone another operation which lasted for 7 hours. As of now, I feel allright.

Do you plan on tripping to Kerbala again?

If Allah wants me to, I will.


/Vesti.Az/