About 40 mourners have been killed by a stampede at the funeral procession of Iran General Qasem Soleimani killed in a US air strike, according to reports.
Qasem Soleimani who was killed by an American drone as he arrived in Baghdad last Friday was due to be buried today, and tens of thousands of people packed the streets for his funeral.
The funeral has drawn huge crowds with thousands of mourners packing into the streets, but the crowds have now sparked a deadly crush with dozens of people dead in his home town of Kerman, according to local media.
Some 40 people have so far been killed and another 213 injured in the horror crush, Iran state TV reports.
Iranian state TV gave the casualty toll in its online report, without saying where it obtained the information.
Confirming the incident, Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of Iran’s emergency medical services said, “Unfortunately, as a result of the stampede, some of our compatriots have been injured and some have been killed during the funeral processions.”
Soleimani’s death has sparked calls across Iran for revenge against America for a slaying that has drastically raised tensions across the Middle East
Source: thesun.co.uk
