Gas explosion rocks Iranian market, kills 5 people

A gas explosion which hit an Iranian market has flattened a building and shops while killing at least 5 people.

The explosion which occurred in Southwest Iran started around midday on Saturday October 11, 2020.

Video released on social media showed rescue teams looking for survivors in the rubble of the two-storey residential building located near the marketplace in the old district of the city of Ahvaz, capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province.

The head of the fire department in Ahvaz said, “The gas explosion led to the complete destruction of a two-story residential building… and four nearby residential buildings and six shops.”

Four men and one woman were killed and nine people were injured,” Ebrahim Qanbari added.

Some of the explosions in the past few months appeared to be linked to Iran’s deteriorating infrastructure, while others may have been security-related such as blasts at sensitive military and nuclear sites.