02/05/2010

Iran Avalanche Kills 8; 3 Foreigners Among 49 Rescued

An avalanche in northern Iran killed eight people, while 49 others were rescued, including three foreigners.

The incident happened yesterday between Shemshak and Dizin, popular ski resorts near Tehran, the state-run Mehr news agency said.

Two groups of skiers and hikers were trapped, Mehr cited Hamidreza Rezai, a local official, as saying. The eight bodies have been identified, Mehr said. An Iranian man was hospitalized in Karaj with a broken back, Rezai told Mehr. The names and nationalities of the foreigners weren’t provided.

All the eight people killed were mountain climbers except for one skier, the state-run Iranian Students News Agency said. One of them was a woman, it said.

Iran’s ski resorts are nestled among about 40 peaks that exceed 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). The road from Tehran to the region, built during the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi more than 30 years ago, is frequently closed because of avalanches.

Modern skiing arrived in Iran in 1930, 85 years after competitions had started elsewhere. About 200,000 Iranians ski each year out of a population of 70 million, according to the Iranian Ski Federation.
Tags: iran dizin, avalanche dizin
Source:
   Business Week