Iranian media reported Tuesday evening that an explosion from a gas leak in a medical clinic in northern Tehran had killed at least 19 people and injured several others.
The ensuing fire broke out at Sina Athar Medical Center in Iran’s capital and state TV said firefighters battled and extinguished the blaze.
Tehran fire department spokesman Jalal Maleki told the semi-official ISNA news agency that after initially reporting 13 deaths, firefighters had recovered six more who died after the blaze was extinguished around two hours later, raising the toll to 19.
Fifteen of the dead were women, state television said.
First responders search for survivors at the scene of an explosion at the Sina Athar health center in the north of Iran’s capital Tehran on June 30, 2020. (Photo by AMIR KHOLOUSI / ISNA / AFP)
Online videos appeared to show explosions at the site as thick black smoke rose from the flames.