Fire, Blast at Cosmetics Factory Injures 53

A huge fire and subsequent explosion, possibly caused by a gas leak, injured 53 people at a cosmetics factory near the Iranian capital of Tehran on Tuesday, state media reported.

A lot of damage was reported to the equipment and internal facilities of the factory.

Hossein Ashuri, the head of the fire department of Fardis, where the blast took place told, reported that, "At 3:30 p.m. today, with the announcement of a factory fire in Simin Dasht district, rescue and firefighting teams were dispatched to the scene of the incident."

Some of the injured at the plant in the town of Fardis in the Alborz province, were in critical condition, state media said.

Regarding the cause of the accident, the Fardis Fire Chief said that according to initial estimates, the cause of the fire in the production line was due to a gas leak during the filling of cosmetic sprays, which led to the fire.

The wounded workers have been transferred to nearby hospitals.

There are more than 150 factories operating in the Simin Dasht district, stated a report by the MEHR news agency.