Train derailment in central Iran kills at least 17
Sylvie Claire / June 8, 2022
The train, carrying 348 passengers, derailed after hitting an excavator that was near the tracks, Mir Hassan Moussavi, deputy head of the Islamic Republic Railways, told state TV. The accident occurred at 5:30 a.m. local time, according to state television.
According to the head of rescue operations, Mehdi Valipour, five of the eleven cars of the train derailed.
Seventeen people died and 37 others were transferred to hospital with injuries. The death toll is expected to rise as several injured are in critical condition, state television quoted national rescue service spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi as saying.
An initial report stated that ten people had died.
This derailment comes two weeks after the collapse of a building under construction in southwestern Iran that killed 43 people.
On May 23, the Metropol building under construction in Abadan, one of the main cities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, partially collapsed on a busy street.
This disaster, one of the deadliest in years in Iran, led to a series of demonstrations across the country in solidarity with the families of the victims and against the authorities, accused of corruption and incompetence.
Nightly demonstrations were held in Abadan and other cities, especially in the center of the country, to mourn the victims and demand the prosecution of those responsible.
The judiciary said it had arrested 13 people, including the mayor of Abadan and two former mayors, accused of being responsible for the tragedy.
In 2016, 44 people had been killed in the collision of two trains that caught fire in northern Iran. Dozens more were injured.