UPDATE - Sandstorm kills 4 people in northern Iraq

UPDATES WITH DEATHS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ali Makram Ghareeb

SALAHUDDIN / KIRKUK, Iraq (AA) – Four people have been killed due to a heavy sandstorm in Iraq, according to hospital records.

Tuz Khurmatu Hospital said in a statement on Friday that it had received dozens of cases complaining of respiratory problems due to the sandstorm, confirming the death toll.

The casualties were recorded in the Tuz Khurmatu city of northern Saladin province.

The hospital said it is possible to receive more cases.

In the northern city of Erbil, the number of patients with shortness of breath in hospitals reached 222, with the storm continuing since Thursday.

At least 90 people in Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city, suffered from shortness of breath and momentary suffocation, while others survived being smothered in the sand, according to a statement issued by the Kirkuk Hospital.

A number of people afflicted were temporarily hospitalized, the statement added.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat and Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara