December 25 2020
Four avalanches in the mountains above Tehran killed 12 people out hiking on Christmas Day while another 14 were rescued.
The authorities said 11 corpses were found buried in the snow while a 12th person died after being taken to a hospital.
The head of the Rescue and Relief Organization of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Mehdi Valipour, said December 26 that 16 rescue teams were searching the heights above Tehran.
Mojtaba Khaledi, spokesman for the state emergency services, said the avalanches occurred around Kolakchal, Ahar and the ski resort of Tochal.
Since no other persons had been reported missing, the search effort was halted December 27.
The avalanche hit after the country’s emergency services said about 100 climbers were trapped in the blizzard at the Tochal ski resort near Tehran.
Many roads in the northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Semnan, Khorasan North, Khorasan Razavi, Zanjan and Qazvin as well as the western province of Kurdistan were blocked by heavy snows that began falling December 21.