A regional official in Iraq has confirmed that a member of Qatar's royal family died in a car accident during a hunting trip in the province of Anbar in western Iraq, according to a news report early Monday. Shaalan Saadoun, a member of al-Anbar Provincial Council, identified the victim as Khalifa bin Abdullah bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani.
The victim's car overturned in the desert, south of the village of Nukhayb, about 200 km south-west of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.
According to Shaalan, the dead man was driving a GMC car when it hit a bump in the ground and overturned. He added that Khalifa was transferred to a hospital in Ramadi, but he was suffering from internal bleeding and died upon arrival. It was not immediately clear how close the victim was to the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Shaalan said that a photocopy of the passport of the victim made it clear he was a member of the royal family. He was in his 20s.
