Sinkhole containing dead bodies of 1,000 victims of Islamic State uncovered in Iraq’s Tal Afar

A sinkhole reportedly containing almost 1,000 bodies, including around 30 Yezidis, killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) from mid-2014 to late 2017 has been uncovered in northern Iraq’s Tal Afar region of Nineveh, a local official confirmed on Wednesday, it was reported by Rudaw.

“The pit contains at least 1,000 bodies. They [ISIS] had even dumped victims into the mass grave while they were still alive,” Tal Afar Mayor Qasim Mohammed told Rudaw.

The majority of the victims in the pit, thought to be 150 meters deep, are Shiites from Tal Afar, he added.

An official from the Tal Afar Mass Graves Affairs Office told Rudaw the sinkhole contains the bodies of at least 30 Yezidis from Shingal.

READ the full story at Rudaw here.