Fire at Coffee Shop in Kian Bazaar, Ahvaz Kills At Least 11
Reports from Iranian news agencies indicate that a fire at a coffee shop on Alavi Street in Kian Bazaar, Ahvaz has so far claimed at least 11 lives.
Masoud Haghshenas, director of public relations for the Fire Department and Safety Services of Ahvaz Municipality, described the fire at the “Noras” coffee shop as “extensive and severe” in an interview with ISNA news agency.
According to him, “Firefighters, upon arriving at the scene, were confronted with raging flames that had engulfed the entire coffee shop.”
Mr. Masouri added: “This fire started at 1 a.m. on Tuesday, April 3rd (Farvardin 14), and left 14 people injured. According to him, firefighting operations were completed in 10 minutes, but three firefighters were also injured.”
Mojtaba Khaldi, spokesman for Iran’s Emergency Services, told the Farsi news agency that the injured were transferred to the hospital, but according to him, “the condition of some of them is critical.”
The Iran newspaper’s Telegram channel, citing some “eyewitnesses,” attributed the cause of the fire to “the insane act of a man” who, in an unstable state, set the coffee shop ablaze by pouring gasoline.
Meanwhile, Ali Ghasempour, social deputy of the Law Enforcement Force of Khuzestan Province, said the suspect in the arson has been arrested and added that he was a “dismissed worker” of the coffee shop and “a close relative of the owner.”
As this police official stated, the suspect acted with the motive of “revenge.”
He announced the death toll from this fire at least 11 people.
Measure news agency reported that the identities of six of the victims “are still unknown either due to lack of identification documents or due to the severity of burns.”
Nabiollaah Khoon Mirzaei, acting governor of Ahvaz, also said that the extent of this incident is currently being investigated by security forces and added: “It appears that the fire at this coffee shop occurred intentionally. The main suspect in this incident has been arrested by police and is currently under interrogation.”
Source: Radio Farda
