At least seventeen people were killed and many others injured today when a train derailed near the city of Tabas, in central Iran, local media reported.
"Seventeen people were killed and 37 injured were hospitalized. The death toll is expected to rise because many of the injured are in critical condition," said national first aid spokesman Mozhtabha Khaledi, state television reported."
Photos broadcast by the Isna news agency show one wagon overturned and four others crashed into each other.
According to the Iribnews television network, the accident occurred in the desert on the railway line connecting the cities of Mashhad and Yazd.
"The train carrying 348 passengers derailed when it ran into an excavator" that was near the tracks, said Mir Hassan Mousavi, deputy director of Iran's railways. The accident occurred at 05:30 local time (03:00 GMT), according to the Iranian state television network.
According to the head of rescue operations, Mehdi Valipur, five of the train's eleven carriages derailed.
This derailment comes two weeks after a high-rise building under construction in southwestern Iran collapsed, killing 43 people.
On May 23, the Metropol building in Abadan, one of the largest cities in Khuzestan province, partially collapsed in the heart of a busy street.
The disaster, one of the deadliest in years in Iran, sparked a series of demonstrations across the country in solidarity with the families of the victims and against the authorities, which Iranians accuse of corruption and incompetence.
Nightly demonstrations are taking place in Abadan and other cities to mourn the victims and demand accountability for those responsible.
Iranian authorities have announced that they have arrested 13 people, including the mayor of Abadan and two of his predecessors, accused of being "responsible" for the tragedy.
Source: in.gr
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