Tehran market fire contained without casualties, with negligence cited as cause

TEHRAN -- The huge fire that erupted Tuesday morning at a market in the Iranian capital Tehran was contained without causing any casualties, and officials attributed the incident to negligence in safety measures, the official news agency IRNA reported.

The fire broke out in the Jannat Abad neighborhood in western Tehran and was reported at 09:55 am local time (0625 GMT), prompting firefighters and rescuers to rush to the scene, IRNA quoted Tehran Fire Department spokesman Jalal Maleki as saying.

Maleki said the market had previously received three warning notices over its failure to observe safety measures, all of which remained unnoticed, stressing that the market did not have any fire alarm system and failed to have implemented other safety measures.

He described the financial loss sustained in the fire as "very substantial," noting that a significant portion of the commodities in the market consisted of clothes, as well as cosmetics and toiletries, which contributed to the spread of the fire.

Earlier in the day, Maleki said the fire had originated from a shed with an area spanning 2,000 square meters.