Gas Explosion Kills 13 in Tehran; Many Hurt

TEHRAN —  A gas explosion killed at least 13 people, destroyed a four-story building and started a major fire in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Sunday, the official news agency IRNA said.

The blast also injured many people, some critically, in the middle-class area of central Tehran. IRNA said the death toll is expected to rise.

“I saw flames leaping away from the site. After a few seconds the fire receded, then a flame shot out six stories high,” said one witness who was working in a shop about 200 feet away.

IRNA said firefighters and relief workers were clearing the debris. The blast, which left a large crater, occurred amid heavy traffic. It destroyed several cars and gutted at least 15 houses and shops.

Rescue workers toiled to shift debris around the crater as a crane lifted pieces of masonry.

IRNA said the explosion, at 11:30 a.m. local time, was caused by a gas leak in an underground gas distribution chamber.

However, state-run Tehran Radio quoted an unidentified official in charge of emergency operations as saying engineers had been connecting a safety valve to a pipeline at the time of the blast.

“According to the reports I have received, their carelessness led to (a) big escape of gas, and a spark set it ablaze,” the official said.

One eyewitness said a four-story building collapsed and burned.

Windows were smashed in buildings up to 150 feet away. Police cordoned off the area, and Tehran’s governor set up temporary offices where local residents filled out forms listing property damage.

One resident said: “I noticed (that) noise coming from the gas pipeline was getting louder. . . . From the window in the fourth floor of my place, I saw some muddy liquid bubbling down there. . . . Then came the huge sound of the explosion.”