Mosque Fire Kills 35 In Tehran

At least 35 worshippers were killed and more than 200 others injured when a fire broke out a mosque in central Tehran, state-run television reported late Monday.

The fire, sparked by a malfunctioning power circuit, started as hundreds of worshippers were performing evening prayers in the Arg Mosque, the television report said.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said a long sheet of cloth segregating men from women caught fire and then quickly spread throughout the mosque.

The dead included 20 men and 15 women, the television said.

Firefighters were working to extinguish the fire and police have cordoned off the area.

The mosque is close to the historic Golestan Palace where Reza Khan was crowned as Reza Shah Pahlavi in the 1920s and the huge Tehran bazaar, the heart of business in the capital.