The Rescue Worker's Account: We Cleared the Schoolyard Before the Parents Arrived

Kobra Aji Heidarinia, a Red Crescent rescue worker, recalls the first moments of the Minab school tragedy: "We were working when I heard a massive explosion. When we reached the school, the air was thick with smoke. We quickly began clearing the aftermath so that when the parents arrived, they wouldn't have to see those horrific scenes." With deep sorrow, she remembers her teacher colleagues with whom she had been just the night before: "The principal and most of the teachers were my friends; unfortunately, none survived. I saw scenes that took my breath away; I saw a mother who had all three of her children in this school, and she lost all three. If only at least one had survived."