Canoe Death, Emergency Landing and Tower Block Suicide: News from Around Iran

This week in Iran’s provinces: Water returns to Isfahan; Acid attack victim Ameneh Bahrami's brother commits suicide; Female canoeist drowns in Anzali Pond; World champion presents his medal to acid attack victim; Bridge collapse injures 15 in Qom; Thousands of homeless drug addicts in Mashhad; Emergency landing saves four-year-old girl: Traffic police accident leads to death of students; Carbon monoxide poisoning at school

 

Water returns to Isfahan

On November 3, Isfahan residents celebrated as the nearby Zayandeh Rood dam was opened and water flowed into the city’s river. Head of the Department of Environment Massoumeh Ebtekar said that “water will flow until the end of the spring in Zayandeh Rood River”.

Zayandeh Rood is the largest river of the central Iranian plateau and is 200 kilometers long. Isfahan, like so many provinces in Iran, has suffered from severe drought over the last few years.

 

World champion presents his medal to acid attack victim 

World martial arts champion Meysam Jahanipour presented Soheila Jowrkesh, a victim of a recent acid attack in Isfahan, with one of his gold medals in early November. Jahanipour visited Jowrkesh in hospital, where he told the Iranian Republic News Agency that he had been “deeply moved” to see Jowrkesh’s injuries and saddened to hear about what had happened to her. Jahanipour was awarded the medal at the 2014 Istanbul Martial Arts Championship in Turkey, which took place from October 25 to October 27 and hosted 1,700 athletes from 70 countries

Jahanipour was born in 1991 and began practicing martial arts when he was seven. At the age of 18 he became a member of the Iranian national taekwondo team. He has won 50 medals at national, regional and international championships.

 

Acid attack victim Ameneh Bahrami's brother commits suicide

Police confirmed that Mohmmad Bahrami, the brother of acid attack victim Ameneh Bahrami, committed suicide by jumping from the 20th floor of a building on November 10.

Left blind and badly disfigured from an acid attack in 2004, Ameneh Bahrami received considerable media attention when she forgave her attacker as he was due to be blinded by acid as part of the sharia law of qisas, or “retaliation”. According to Tasnim News, prior to taking his own life, her brother Mohammad had been hospitalized for 45 days due to mental illness.

 

Bridge collapse injures 15 in Qom

Scaffolds holding up a bridge under construction collapsed on the evening of 10 November, injuring 15 workers. The bridge, which is nearing completion, will serve Iran’s eighth biggest city and religious center, Qom, 125 kilometres southwest of Tehran. The injured were transferred to two hospitals in the vicinity.

 

Thousands of homeless drug addicts in Mashhad

Anti-narcotics police chief for the Khorasan region, Hossein Molavi, announced on November 5 that the city of Mashhad is home to “between 3000 and 5000 homeless drug addicts”. The official told the Shahraray Mashahad website that the majority of addicts were originally from other cities in the province, but gave no reason why they flocked to Mashhad.

 

Emergency landing saves four-year-old girl

A flight from Tabriz to Tehran was forced to make an emergency landing on November 9 after a four-year-old passenger suffered from sudden respiratory failure.  According to Iranian Students News Agency, the girl swallowed a prayer bead, which led to the respiratory failure. Upon landing, the patient received emergency treatment; she was later transferred to a local hospital in Tabriz.

 

Traffic police accident leads to death of students

Three students were killed in a car accident in the southeastern province of Kerman on November 9.

According to ISNA, eight pupils from the village of Ganjabad took were travelling home from school in a truck when traffic police attempted to block the vehicle’s way; the driver swerved and crashed. Three students died upon impact and several others were injured.

 

Female canoeist drowns in Anzali Pond

Professional canoeist Shadi Sarkeil, 21, drowned on November 9 after her boat capsized during practice at Anzali Pond in the northern province of Gilan.

The canoeist’s family said Iranian authorities were to blame for the accident, and said that rescue services did not do all they could to help her. Sarkeil’s body has not been recovered. A spokesperson for Anzail’s Red Crescent rescue and medical aid organization said, “the athlete had rowed 1,500 meters before the fatal incident happened. Her body was hot but the pond water was very cold, so we assume she died due of cardiac arrest.”

According to a witness report, Sarkeil did not have a lifejacket on at the time of the accident. It is thought she drowned immediately.

 

Carbon monoxide poisoning at school

Sixteen students were poisoned by carbon monoxide gas at a school in the province of Qazvin on November 8. The children received medical attention and are reported to be in stable condition. Every year, there are reports of faulty heating systems causing frequent problems in schools across the province.