The country’s Red Crescent warned that chemicals released into the atmosphere after the destruction of the refineries could cause the phenomenon.
A dense black cloud covered the sky of Tehran last Sunday (8), forcing the local environment agency to recommend that its citizens stay indoors.
The cause was the bombing of . According to the British portal The Guardian, residents of the city described the dawn there as apocalyptic. Fire and smoke from the attack spread throughout the city.
The country’s Red Crescent warned that chemicals released into the atmosphere after the destruction of the refineries could cause the phenomenon.which can damage lungs and skin, and even increase the risk of cancer. He also recommended that people not turn on air conditioning. nor leave the house immediately after it rains. Glass in nearby residential buildings shattered in the explosions.
“When I woke up, I thought there was a problem,” a driver in his 50s told AFP. Many inhabitants reported the same feeling in front of the darkened sky, which forced residents to turn on the lights in the middle of the morning. At around 10:30 am (7 am in Brasília), vehicles were still driving with their headlights on on Valiasr Avenue, a 17-kilometer road that runs through Tehran from north to south.
The rainy weather and dense clouds further increased the feeling of confusion. They mixed with large columns of black smoke coming from the burning storage facilities.
ACID RAIN IN IRAN?!
Thick black clouds of smoke seen across parts of Iran this morning after Israeli airstrikes on oil depots and refineries.
Rainfall is described as “black and oily”.
— Shashank Shekhar Jha (@shashank_ssj)
The smoke spread across much of the city, a metropolis stretching for dozens of kilometers. The scenario gave the capital an apocalyptic appearancewith a strong smell of burning in some neighborhoods, on the ninth day of the war triggered by attacks from Israel and the United States.
This was the first time since the beginning of the conflict that Iran’s oil infrastructure was attacked. Four depots and a logistics center for petroleum products in and around Tehran were hit by bombings, which left at least 6 dead and 20 injured, according to authorities.
In one of the fuel depots hit in the capital, oil continued to burn. AFP saw Flames still intensifying more than 12 hours after Israeli bombings.
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Gasoline rationing
On the outskirts of the warehouse, security forces wearing masks and waterproof capes To protect themselves from toxic emissions, they controlled circulation. Authorities warned that the gases released could “cause irritation to the respiratory tract and eyes”, and asked residents to stay at home.
The governor of Tehran province, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian, reported in the morning that the gasoline distribution had been “temporarily interrupted”but asked the population not to worry.
O supply was limited to 20 liters per vehicle. Long queues formed today at gas stations in the capital. In June, during the previous war, about 6 million residents left Tehrana city of more than 10 million inhabitants, according to local media. This time, the majority remained. THE UN estimates that around 100,000 people have left the city.
*With information from AFP
