Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeIran News NowIran Culture & SocietyIran: Heavy snowfall in Gilan province

Iran: Heavy snowfall in Gilan province

Iran: Heavy snowfall in Gilan province
Iran: Heavy snowfall in Gilan province

Reports from Iran indicate that heavy and sudden snowfall in northern Iranian provinces has taken the lives of at least eight people and injured 78.

Seven victims died in Gilan province, five of them died in an avalanche and two were killed in the city of Rasht, one after a ceiling caved in under the weight of the snow, and the other died after falling from a roof. The eighth victim passed away on Wednesday in Khalkhal, northwestern Iran, due to a lack of medical treatment.

According to the state-run Khabar-Online news agency, over 250,000 people in Gilan do not have electricity. The snowfall and heavy snowstorm have cut off water in many parts of the northern province.

According to the state-run IRNA news agency, the cities of Rasht, Someh Sara, Fuman, Shaft, Anzali, Rezvanshahr, Langrud, Lahijan, and Astaneh Ashrafiyeh are dealing with power outages. Lahijan and Astaneh Ashrafiyeh are the worst hit.

The snow has blocked the Qazvin-Rasht highway. Reports indicate the main roads of Rasht have been blocked, which has made commuting very difficult. Some 50 of the 52 cities and counties of Gilan are currently affected by the snowfall, which in some areas exceeds two meters. According to local reports, there are very little government relief efforts.

“We live in Rasht. It’s been 24 hours since the snow stopped falling, and it’s now 48 hours that we don’t have power,” a resident of Rasht said in a social media report.

The caretaker of Gilan province’s weather forecasting office has reported that the city of Masuleh has seen one meter of snowfall, Rasht 50-80 centimeters, Lahijan 70 centimeters, and Astara 46 centimeters.

Reports published by state-run media confirm that the snowstorm has left nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in Rasht, a city of more than 700,000 people, without power while causing outages in telephone and mobile communications.

Local reports confirm that the snowstorm was forecasted two weeks ago, but the regime did not take necessary preventive measures.

The Iranian regime has never taken preventive measures to avoid natural disasters, and once they happen, it refuses to help victims. The regime has been plundering the national wealth to export terrorism abroad and continue domestic oppression to preserve its rule. In this regard, it has very much damaged infrastructures and the eco-system by its unnecessary projects, such as dam construction and cutting trees.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), wrote on Twitter: “My condolences to families of those who perished in Gilan, Iran. I urge the youth to help those affected by snow. By wasting our nation’s wealth on warmongering, nuclear & missile projects, mullahs have rendered our compatriots defenseless at times of such incidents.”