A huge fire which raged for hours through a local market by the name of Golshahr in Karaj, southwest of the capital Tehran, injured four people and brought the 760-stall market to the ground, official media and witnesses said today.
The blaze started at around 5 am local time and spread through the market in about one hour. The fire heat was felt 100 meters away.
Locals say municipality authorities, who for months sought to close this site, were behind this arson. The authorities however claimed electricity malfunction.
Stall owners in the burned Golshahr market said Mr. Tarkhani, owner of this land, had threatened them to evacuate their stalls or this place will be burned.
Stall owners and people massed in the streets protesting after the local market was burned, chanting:
“No fear, we’re all together.”
