Stampede kills 32 at funeral for Iran general: state TV

Stampede kills 32 at funeral for Iran general: state TV

A stampede at the funeral for a top Iranian general killed 32 people and injured 190 on Tuesday in the southeastern city of Kerman, state television reported.

Iranian mourners gather around a vehicle carrying the coffin of slain top general Qasem Soleimani during the final stage of funeral processions, in his hometown Kerman on January 7, 2020. Soleimani was killed outside Baghdad airport Friday in a drone stri
AFP

"Unfortunately because of overcrowding 32 of our citizens lost their lives in the procession... and 190 were injured," the head of the country's emergency services, Pirhossein Koolivand, told the channel.

The injured were immediately transferred to hospital, he added.

READ: Iran designates US forces 'terrorists' for killing general

AFP correspondents in Kerman said the streets of the southeastern city were packed with mourners for the funeral of Revilutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in his hometown.

People were seen taking refuge on hillsides around the city on state television.

Soleimani, the hugely popular head of the Guards' Quds Force, was assassinated on Friday in a US drone strike near Baghdad international airport, an operation that shocked the Islamic republic.

Tuesday's funeral comes after days of processions through the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the shrine cities of Qom and Mashhad as well as the capital Tehran.

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