Mosque Fire Kills 59 In Tehran

The death toll in a fire at a Tehran mosque has risen to 59, a police official said Monday night.

Tehran Police Chief Brigadier General Morteza Talaie was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying the death toll rose to 59 from the earlier report of 35 deaths.

IRNA quoted rescue workers as saying more than 250 people were injured in the fire.

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.