Iranian media are reporting that 11 Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims have been killed after a bus overturned in western Iran.

Iran's state television quoted provincial road traffic police chief Colonel Mahdi Shakeri as saying 10 women and a man were killed in the September 6 accident in the western province of Hamadan.

Twenty-four other people were reported injured.

Shakeri said the accident occurred when the Iraqi pilgrims were returning home from a trip to the Iranian city of Qom.

Iran's Shi'ite holy sites draw many Iraqi pilgrims.

Road accidents claim about 18,000 lives in Iran every year. The high death tolls are blamed on unsafe vehicles and disregard for traffic regulations.

By Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty