18 soldiers killed in blast in Iran
TEHRAN. October 13. KAZINFORM Iran says 18 members of the Revolutionary Guard died in Tuesday's explosion at army base; Kazinform refers to China Daily.
An explosion at a Revolutionary Guards' base that was apparently triggered when a munitions cache caught fire by accident killed and injured several servicemen on Tuesday, Iranian news agencies reported.
The IRNA news agency said 14 other Guard troops were wounded in the blast Tuesday in the city of Khoramabad, some 300 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Tehran. The injured were taken to hospitals in Khoramabad.
The official IRNA news agency said the training base belonged to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in Khoramabad, western Iran.
The blast occurred roughly three weeks after a deadly bomb attack on a military parade in northwestern Iran and only days after gunmen killed several police officers in the capital of Iran's Kurdistan province.
IRNA said Tuesday's blast had happened after "a place where ammunition was kept" caught fire. The website of Iran's English-language Press TV reported the explosion had been caused "by accident".
Press TV said firefighters and rescue teams were sent to the scene and the injured were rushed to hospital.
See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.