Iraq shrine collapse: Eight bodies pulled from rubble after landslide

Iraqi rescuers have ended their search for survivors after the body of an eighth pilgrim was found in the rubble of a Shia Muslim shrine that collapsed.

Five women and a child were among those killed when a landslide struck the Qattarat al-Imam Ali on Saturday, the General Civil Defence Directorate said.

Another three children were rescued and taken to hospital.

An earth mound next to the shrine, 28km (17 miles) west of Karbala, is believed to have collapsed due to high humidity.

"The mountain had been collecting water and, unfortunately, nobody had noticed," said Daifallah Naim, a nurse with the Popular Mobilisation, a paramilitary force dominated by Shia militias.

The landslide hit the ceiling of the Qattarat al-Imam Ali, which then collapsed on top of Shia pilgrims inside.

The civil defence directorate announced that it had ended the rescue effort on Monday night after recovering the body of the fifth woman.

On Sunday, President Barham Saleh praised the rescuers as heroes and expressed his condolences to the victims and their families.

Influential Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also offered his condolences, but he warned that there were "suspicions of corruption" surrounding the incident.

He called on the government to order an "immediate and serious investigation in order to reveal the truth so that corruption does not reach mosques and places of worship, as it has affected state institutions and ministries", the state-owned Iraqi News Agency reported.

Karbala Governor Nassif al-Khattabi said unnamed individuals who owned the shrine had been summoned for questioning.

The shrine contains a spring where Shia believe the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin, and his army stopped to drink from while on their way to a battle in 657.