Iranians shocked after deaths of 19 soldiers in bus accidents
Iranian social media users and officials expressed grief and outrage after 19 Iranian soldiers were killed in two separate bus accidents.
In the morning hours of June 22, a bus carrying 36 army conscripts who had just finished their training and were on break to visit family steered off the road into a canyon in southern Iran. As the news slowly rolled in, reports immediately surfaced that another bus carrying army soldiers had overturned. Reports said 19 soldiers were killed and 77 were injured in the two accidents.
While investigators still do not know the cause of the accidents in Fars province, many Iranians were shocked and expressed their solidarity on social media sites with the hashtag #sarbazantasliat (Condolences soldiers). Some questioned why the government did not call for a national day of mourning for the soldiers.
