Two Children Die in Preschool Fire in Zahedan

Following the death of two student children in a fire at a preschool in Zahedan, the director of education for district two of the city submitted his resignation. The cause of the fire was an oil heater catching fire. Several other children suffered severe burns.

Alirezza Nakhei, director general of education in Sistan and Baluchestan province, said on Tuesday, December 27 (December 18) in an interview with Tasnim News Agency: “Three students who were caught in the fire at the elementary school named Saba Arabi, Maryam Nokandi, and Mona Khosroparest died.” However, according to the latest reports, only two of the injured students have lost their lives.

The condition of another injured child named Yekta Mirshaker is reported to be critical. She is admitted to the intensive care unit in a hospital in Zahedan.

In initial reports, the number of deceased children was announced as two. Nakhei stated that the burn severity of two students at this preschool was up to 90 percent and two other students was up to 70 percent.

According to Khosrow Saravani, head of Zahedan Fire Department, the fire incident occurred at 9 a.m. on Tuesday in a private educational unit for preschool and elementary school for girls on Mostafa Khomeini Street in Zahedan.

Saravani said that firefighters managed to evacuate 55 students who were trapped in smoke and fire from the scene.

The head of Zahedan Fire Department regarding the cause of the fire noted: “In preliminary investigations conducted by the organization’s experts, it was determined that the fire started from an oil lamp, but investigations into the exact cause of this incident are still underway.”

Resignation of District Education Director 2

Ali Moradi, public relations director of the General Directorate of Education of Sistan and Baluchestan, said on Tuesday in an interview with IRNA news agency: “Malik Mohammad Sanjrani, following this incident, submitted his resignation from the management of education in district 2 of Zahedan to the provincial director general of education.”

Moradi said that an arrest order for the director and educational instructor of the affected school in Zahedan has been issued by the prosecutor’s office of Zahedan, and his resignation is under review.

According to the public relations director of education, the negligence of the director and educational instructor of this preschool has been established by Mohammadi Rad, prosecutor general of Zahedan, and an arrest order has been issued against them.

To date, in several other cases, the use of old heaters and non-standard heating equipment in schools has caused fires and resulted in the death and injury of students.

One such case was the fire at a school in Droodzhen in Marvdasht city, Fars province, which occurred in December 2006. In this incident, eight students burned due to the ignition of the only heating device in the classroom, an oil heater, and continued their lives with disfigured faces.

Another notable case was the oil heater fire at “Neda-ye Enghelab” girls’ elementary school in Shin Abad village, Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan in December 2012, which resulted in two students losing their lives and 28 other students suffering burns. The burns of 12 of these students were reported to be very severe.

The injured girls, known as the “Shin Abadi Girls,” have repeatedly complained about their treatment process and requested to be sent abroad for treatment. They, along with their parents, gathered on July 27 of this year in front of the office of the presidency in Tehran and protested their treatment process and its problems.

A fire resulting from an electrical short circuit in a boarding school in Chabahar in November 2010 and a fire in the dormitory of a maritime navigation high school in Chabahar in November 2011 are other examples of incidents that occur due to non-standard heating systems in schools in Iran.

Source: DW