Iraq chokes under orange skies as sandstorm shutters airports

A sandstorm swept Iraq, filling the air with choking dust that closed airports and put more than 3,700 people in hospital with breathing difficulties, the health ministry said yesterday.

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Visibility fell to less than one kilometre in central and southern cities as the storm cloaked the region in an eerie orange haze, AFP photographers reported.

Choking dust

Basra and Najaf airports both closed for the duration of the storm, which began to dissipate yesterday morning.