Nine Dead and Over 1800 Injured During Fire Festival in Iran

At least nine people have died and over 1,800 have sustained varying degrees of injuries during the traditional fire festival of Chaharshanbe Suri in Iran. This was reported by Mojtaba Khaledi, the official spokesman for Iran's Emergency Organization, on March 17, as noted by Armenpress.

“During the night of Chaharshanbe Suri this year, nine people died, and 1,894 were injured,” Khaledi was quoted as saying by the IRIB broadcasting corporation.

Khaledi added that last year there were four fatalities and 1,498 injuries. According to him, “this year, most of the injured are from Tehran, East Azerbaijan, and Kermanshah provinces.” “46 percent of the injured are between six and 18 years old,” he noted.

Chaharshanbe Suri is a traditional festival celebrated on the eve of Iranian New Year, Nowruz, which this year falls on March 20. On this night, people light bonfires and jump over them. In recent years, the use of fireworks has become popular among the youth, leading to hundreds of injuries each year, as reported by TASS.