130 Iranians reportedly hospitalized after inhaling toxic gas dumped in canal

TEHRAN, Iran – At least 130 people, most of them students, were hospitalized after inhaling a toxic gas in the southeastern city of Zahedan, an Iranian newspaper reported Monday.

The report by Haft-e Sobh quoted Zahedan provincial Gov. Abbas Ali Arjmandi as saying the gas was released after a worker from a private company dumped unspecified amounts of expired pesticides into a wastewater canal on Sunday morning.

Arjmandi said most of the students were from a nearby school. Residents in the area also reported dizziness and nausea, he said.

The governor ruled out sabotage and said the worker acted out of ignorance. Arjmandi said the worker was arrested and the factory storage sealed. He did not identify the toxic gas in question or provide further details.

Meanwhile, the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Ali Moradi, an official with the education ministry in the province, as saying that schools in a part of Zahedan city were closed on Monday due to high pollution levels related to Sunday's incident.