Tehran: Eight prisoners have been charred to death and 61 others seriously injured in a massive fire at a prison in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The fire broke out on Saturday (October 15) in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. In this jail, especially political prisoners and anti-government opponents are imprisoned. The Iranian government clarified the prison fire, saying that the fire broke out after a clash between prisoners on Saturday.
However, human rights groups have rejected the government's clarification. They say they doubt the government's statement and the death toll could be much higher. The Iranian government had said that there was a clash between the inmates in the prison on Saturday, after which some prisoners set fire to a workshop inside the prison. Eyewitnesses said they had heard gunshots from inside the jail premises.
At the same time, Iran's judiciary says that four inmates of Evin prison were seriously burnt in the fire, and died in hospital. Iran's judiciary chief Golamhoussein Mohseni Ijei has said that the fire was set on fire by some miscreants associated with enemies.
The Iranian government has been hiding facts in the past:
Iran Human Rights (IHR) has ruled out the cause of the fire, citing the Iranian government's long history of concealing facts. The group said the number of inmates killed in the Evin prison fire could be higher than official figures. Human rights activists say the confusion arose after state television announced on Sunday that 40 people had been killed in the prison fire. But minutes later, it was reduced to four.
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