Snowfall and avalanche in Gilan leave seven dead and 78 injured
Pirhossein Kolivand, head of the country's emergency services, announced on Tuesday, February 12, that seven people died in Gilan due to heavy snowfall and an avalanche.
According to Fars News Agency, at least five people have died in the past two days due to an avalanche in Rudbar, Gilan Province, and two others have died due to a fall from a height and a roof collapse in Rasht.
According to the report, 78 other people were also sent to medical centers due to trauma caused by falls and disorientation, but no news has been reported about their medical condition so far.
Meanwhile, the head of the NAJA Traffic Police Command and Control Center has warned those heading to Gilan province against traveling to the province.
Colonel Nader Rahmani said that snowfall continues in Gilan Province, and given the severity of the rainfall and the volume of snow in the province, the police strongly recommend that people refrain from traveling to Gilan Province until further notice and postpone their trip to another time.
This Iranian traffic police official, noting that the old road and the Qazvin-Rasht freeway are also closed due to snowfall, stated: "The Saravan-Fuman axis and the Imamzadeh Hashem road are also closed. On the Saravan-Rasht route, only one lane is open for movement towards Rasht."
In this context, the head of the Gilan Meteorological Forecasting and Early Warning Department said regarding the amount of snowfall in some cities in the province: Snowfall has been recorded in cities such as Masouleh, between 50 and 80 centimeters, Lahijan, 70 centimeters, and Astara, 46 centimeters.
He predicted that as the rain system leaves Gilan Province, snowfall will cease in the province and the province will witness frost on Wednesday.
The public relations manager of the Guilan Electricity Distribution Company had previously said that due to heavy snowfall, the number of subscribers without electricity in the province had increased to about 250,000. Guilan has 1,462,000 electricity subscribers.
According to IRNA news agency, Hamidreza Hekmat announced that the cities experiencing power outages were Rasht, Soumehsara, Fouman, Shaft, Anzali, Rezvanshahr, Langrud, Lahijan, and Astaneh Ashrafieh, adding that the most power outages were in the cities of Astaneh Ashrafieh and Lahijan.
Source: Radio Farda
