AP — Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency says seven Iraqi pilgrims were killed when their bus overturned in northeastern Iran.

Tuesday’s report quotes spokesman of Iran’s emergency organization, Mojtaba Khaledi, as saying that 20 passengers — out of the total of 29 on board — were injured.

He says “seven pilgrims lost their lives in this accident” along the Sabzevar-Shahroud road.

It took place on Monday night as the pilgrims were headed from the holy city of Mashhad to Isfahan in Iran.

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes for a speedy recovery of the injured.

Road accidents claim some 18,000 lives in Iran every year. The high death tolls are blamed on unsafe vehicles, disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.