Tehran: A stampede erupted Tuesday at a funeral procession for a top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani who was killed in a US airstrike last week. It resulted in the death of 35 people with 48 others injured, state television reported.
According to the report, the stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Soleimani, as the procession got underway. Initial videos posted online showed people lying lifeless on a road, others shouting and trying to give help them.
Iranian state TV gave the casualty toll in its online report, without saying where it obtained the information.
Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of Iran’s emergency medical services, earlier spoke by telephone to state TV and confirmed the stampede took place.
““Unfortunately as a result of the stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions,” said Koulivand.
A procession in Tehran on Monday drew over one million people in the Iranian capital, crowding both main thoroughfares and side streets here.
Soleimani’s death has sparked calls across Iran for revenge against America for a slaying that’s drastically raised tensions across the Middle East.
Early Tuesday, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami threatened to ‘set ablaze’ places supported by the United States over the killing of Soleimani. It sparked cries from the crowd of supporters of ‘Death to Israel!’
AP