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Thu 19 Feb=20 2004

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Crash scene blast kills = hundreds=20

BORZOU DARAGAHI IN=20 NEYSHABUR

AS FIREFIGHTERS swarmed over the derailed train to=20 extinguish the last of the flames, it seemed a major = disaster=20 had been avoided.

Even though the train had careered down the tracks, = derailing outside the city of Neyshabur in northern = Iran and=20 catching fire, the situation seemed to have been = brought under=20 control.

But as crowds gathered to watch the spectacle and = the=20 city=E2=80=99s senior officials oversaw the operation, = something went=20 terribly wrong and the train=E2=80=99s cargo of fuel, = fertiliser and=20 chemicals ignited, triggering a massive explosion that = killed=20 or injured hundreds of people and reduced many of the = city=E2=80=99s=20 mud-brick homes to rubble.

The explosion outside the historical city 400 miles = east of=20 the capital, Tehran, was so powerful that residents = thought it=20 was an earthquake. Windows were shattered up to six = miles away=20 and seismologists recorded a 3.6-magnitude tremor. =

Among at least 295 dead were the local governor,=20 Neyshabur=E2=80=99s mayor and fire chief along with = more than 180 fire=20 and rescue workers. At least 400 people were injured, = mainly=20 when their mud homes near the rail tracks collapsed. = Mehran=20 Vakili, the city=E2=80=99s medical examiner, said 180 = bodies had been=20 recovered by yesterday evening.

"The scale of the devastation is very great, and = the damage=20 appears more than initially thought," said Vahid = Bakechi of=20 the Khorasan Province=E2=80=99s Emergency = Headquarters.

Iranian television showed footage of overturned, = blazing=20 carriages, with fire extending outside the tracks = towards the=20 station and nearby homes.

Dozens of people, some wearing face masks to = protect=20 against the smoke, were seen walking around or putting = out=20 flames.

Iran=E2=80=99s media quoted local officials as = saying most of the=20 casualties were in five "severely damaged" nearby = villages.=20

The villages of Dehnow, Hashemabad and Abdolabad on = the=20 edge of Neyshabur were among the worst hit. The = build-up to=20 the disaster had begun almost six hours before when = something=20 caused 51 carriages to roll out of Abu Muslim station, = outside=20 Neyshabur, in the middle of the night. Local media = reported 17=20 cars were loaded with sulphur, six with petrol, seven = with=20 fertiliser and ten carried cotton.

Mohammad Maqdouri, head of the local emergency = operations=20 headquarters, said the cars exploded at 9:37am after = 90 per=20 cent of the flames had been put out.

Syed Hassan Rasouli, governor of Khorasan province, = had=20 been holding talks with senior provincial officials at = the=20 time to determine how the accident happened. He and = several=20 other senior city officials were believed to be among = the=20 dead.

Villagers living near the tracks were trapped = beneath=20 crumbled mud homes that collapsed from the force of = the=20 explosion.Zahra Rezaie, 41, said she went to the city = hospital=20 after finding her children safe at their school, which = was=20 unscathed. She said she saw scores of injured people = wearing=20 the uniforms of firefighters and rescue workers being = brought=20 in.Saeed Kaviani, editor of

Sobh-e-Neyshabur, a local newspaper, said dozens of = people=20 remained buried under rubble in the villages.

Mr Bakechi of the provincial emergency = headquarters, said=20 more than 400 people were injured.

Blood supplies were being rushed in and Iranian=20 paramilitary Revolutionary Guards closed the immediate = area,=20 fearing more explosions.

Authorities also appealed through loudspeakers for = blood=20 donors.

Syed Majid Taqizadeh, head of the 22 Bahman = hospital, said=20 200 injured were being treated in three hospitals in=20 Neyshabur.

He said most of the injured were from the village = of=20 Hashemabad, through which the tracks run.

Mr Taqizadeh said 80 per cent were injured when = their homes=20 collapsed, and the rest were burned or hurt by the = explosion.=20

The disaster happened just days before Iran goes to = the=20 polls in a controversial election in which many = reformist=20 candidates have been banned from standing.

The country is still reeling from an earthquake = that=20 devastated the ancient city of Bam on Boxing Day and = left up=20 to 45,000 people dead.

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