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Massive sandstorm sweeps Middle East, killing at least 8

Tuesday, 08 September 2015 11:54 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 09 September 2015 2:22 AM ]

A Palestinian man wears a mask to protect his face from the dust of a massive sandstorm as he walks past the Dome of the Rock in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) on September 8, 2015. (AFP)

A tremendous sandstorm has struck the western parts of the Middle East, killing at least eight people and causing respiratory problems for hundreds more.

The massive and dense sandstorm hit vast areas of Syria on Monday and shrouded larger regions of the Middle East on Tuesday as it spread to Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, Iraq, and Turkey.

*A severe sandstorm sweeps across large parts of the Middle East on September 8, 2015. (NASA)*

In the Syrian capital Damascus, over 1,200 people, including 100 children, have been treated for breathing problems since Monday night, said Adeeb Mahmoud, the head of a major hospital in the capital.

*Damaged buildings seen during a sandstorm in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, on September 8, 2015 (Reuters)*

However, at least six people, including two children and an elderly woman, lost their lives in the war-torn country due to respiratory failure, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Tuesday.

*A general view of the city of Homs in Syria in the midst of a massive sandstorm on September 8, 2015 (Reuters)*

The UK-based monitoring group went on to say that in the city of Mayadin in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, several hospitals were no longer receiving patients suffering from respiratory problems after running out of oxygen tanks.

*Cars drive on Dbayeh Highway, north of Beirut, as a sandstorm blows over the Lebanese capital on September 8, 2015. (AFP)*

Lebanon's Health Ministry also said that two women died in hospitals because of the storm.

“The number of cases of choking and shortness of breath caused by the sandstorm has risen to 750,” the ministry further added.

*A massive sandstorm hits Syrian refugee camps near the Lebanese city of Baalbek on September 8, 2015. (AFP)*

The storm, viewed from space by NASA, was particularly felt in Lebanon’s tens of makeshift camps where hundreds of thousands of Syrian asylum seekers live in dire conditions.

*Vehicles drive on a highway heading to the Mediterranean city of Limassol as a sandstorm hits the island of Cyprus on September 8, 2015. (AFP)*

The unseasonal storm has also sent at least 10 people to hospitals in Cyprus so far.

Health officials in the Mediterranean island have warned that the concentration of dust particles in the air was many times above normal levels and advised people to limit their time outdoors.

The giant storm has reportedly reached the Egyptian capital Cairo obscuring the skyline with a thick haze.