“Severe Burns” for Two People in Fire at “Care Center for People with Disabilities” in Tehran
One week after at least 35 people died in a fire at a drug rehabilitation center in Langarud, marking the third fire at facilities under the supervision of the Welfare Organization within a week, at least two people suffered “severe burns” in a fire at a “care center for people with disabilities” in Tehran.
Jalal Maleki, spokesperson for Tehran’s Fire Department, confirming the fire at “a psychiatric and care center for people with disabilities,” said that following the fire at this facility, a four-story building on Valiaqsr Street above Zartosht intersection, firefighting forces from three stations were dispatched to contain it.
The Tehran Fire Department spokesperson added that “approximately 50 men and women who were being cared for in this building” were evacuated from the center with the help of firefighters, but “two men suffered very severe burns.”
Maleki said that these two casualties “were surrounded by flames from the moment the fire erupted,” and firefighters, after removing the two people from the building, transferred them to emergency services.
The Tehran Fire Department spokesperson, following this fire at the “care center for people with disabilities,” emphasized that in “care centers for people with disabilities, nursing homes,” and similar facilities, there are features where “residents cannot move freely like able-bodied people and must be relocated by wheelchair, walker, or even bed,” requiring special care, and these centers must receive special attention regarding safety.
Earlier, on Friday morning, November 12, the “One Step to Freedom Drug Rehabilitation Center” in the city of Langarud caught fire, in which 32 people died in the flames, and among the 15 casualties from this fire, 3 have so far died, bringing the total death toll from this fire to 35 people.
Government officials, including the Deputy Governor for Political and Security Affairs of Gilan Province and the Minister of Interior, initially attributed the cause of the fire at the Langarud rehabilitation center to “a heater catching fire,” but on Wednesday, the commander of law enforcement in Gilan Province and the Prosecutor of Rasht announced that a former client of the drug rehabilitation center had been arrested on charges of “intentional arson.”
Also on Monday, November 15, Asghar Qahreman, the Governor of Delijan, reported a fire at one of the drug rehabilitation centers in the city of Nur Abad, saying: “Following a fire at one of the drug rehabilitation centers in Nur Abad, with the swift action of rescue forces, this fire was contained “without loss of life.”
The fire at the “care center for people with disabilities” on Valiaqsr Street in Tehran is the third instance of fire at facilities under the supervision of the Welfare Organization in the past week.
During the fire at the Langarud drug rehabilitation center, the head of the judiciary of Gilan Province announced the issuance of “judicial supervision orders” for the director general of welfare in that province due to “negligence and failure to supervise drug rehabilitation camps.”
Officials of the Welfare Organization have so far refrained from providing clarification regarding these fires and how safety is monitored at private or public facilities under this organization’s supervision.
Source: Radio Farda
