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Iranian Sports Stadium Collapses
WASHINGTON, May 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A stadium roof collapsed Sunday in the northeastern Iranian province of Mazandran.
The official IRNA news agency reported that at least 249 people have been injured after the roof of a stadium collapsed in Sari city, 155 miles from Tehran. IRNA had earlier reported that several spectators were killed in the incident but later quoted Abdullah Madani, chancellor of Mazandaran medical school, as saying that no deaths have been reported as of yet.
"Only one injured is in critical condition and two others are suffering from concussion," he said, adding that many of those injured have been cured as outpatients and released.
However, unconfirmed reports from Iran claim that several people have been killed with IRNA saying it will update reports if and when they are confirmed.
According to other news agencies, a player from inside the stadium phoned that he had seen at least 30 people dead. According to AFP, "Hundreds of people were killed or wounded," and placing the number dead at five.
Iran's Physical Education Authority head, Mustafa Hashemi-Taba, told IRNA that most of the injured where hurt in a stampede when thousands of people tried to flee the over packed Motaqi stadium.
He said the collapse was a result of pressure from fans sitting on top of the awnings. Forty thousand football (soccer) fans had been packed into the stadium which was designed for a total capacity of only 15,000.
The BBC says 20,000 were in the stadium, while IRNA states there were 40,000.
"They should not have let so many people into the stadium," Hashemi-Taba said.
The Iranian student news agency ISNA said that soon after the collapse, irate fans attacked the pitch and demolished a part of the stadium. They reportedly broke several windows and destroyed property. A gas pipeline at the grounds also exploded sparking of a fire.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has ordered a probe into the incident and a three member investigative team has already been dispatched to Sari.
This latest tragedy comes close on the heels of two other similar football incidents in the recent past in Johannesburg and Congo where 43 and 10 people died, respectively.
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