Families grieve in the ruins of an Iranian school where a US strike killed dozens of children
MINAB, Iran (AP) — The sun set over this southern Iranian city, and Heydar Sadeghi was where he can be found almost every evening: on a…
In the heart of Minab, Iran, the sun set on a tragic day, and a grief-stricken man sat on a bench beside the rubble of his grandson's school. Heydar Sadeghi, aged and tearful, had come to mourn the loss of his 11-year-old grandson, Hami, and the boy's mother, Neda Salehizadeh. The Shajareh Tayyebeh school, once a place of learning, now stood as a somber memorial to the children and teachers killed in a U.S. airstrike on February 28th.
Sadeghi recounted the harrowing moments after the explosions, as he searched the bodies in hopes of finding his children. "I searched the bodies for my kids, thinking maybe one would be among them," he said, his voice choked with emotion. "They weren't there." The school's shattered remains became a gathering place for families to grapple with the incomprehensible - how 120 of their children could be taken away in such a horrific manner.
The U.S. government has yet to accept responsibility for the strike, and a final count of the casualties remains unknown. Iranian state media reported 168 deaths, primarily children. The Trump administration has not released findings of a Pentagon investigation into the bombing. For Sadeghi, each day is a painful reminder of the attack that claimed his grandson's life and left his granddaughter Nila miraculously alive, though traumatized.
Written by urgent.news from Associated Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
