35 mourners killed at funeral of Iran general after stampede breaks out

Tehran. Dozens of people have been killed during a stampede at the funeral procession of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani killed in a US air strike last week.

Iranian state TV confirmed the deaths at the event to honour Qasem Soleimani who died in a drone strike last week Friday on the orders of US President Donald Trump.

Soleimani’s body arrived back in his home town of Kerman in southeast Iran for burial where thousands lined the streets, many dressed in black.

State TV quoted the head of Iran’s emergency medical services, Pirhossein Koulivand, saying there had been a deadly stampede.

 It is believed 35 people have been killed and 48 people injured during the event on Tuesday afternoon local time. Iranian mourners stand on a bridge during the final stage of funeral processions for Qasem Soleimani.

Soleimani was widely seen as Iran’s second most powerful figure behind Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 80.

 He was killed at Baghdad airport in a move that has sparked fears of all-out war between the rogue Middle East country and the US.

 At today’s funeral, Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to ‘set ablaze’ places supported by the United States.

 The crowd then erupted in chants of ‘America is the great Satan’ and ‘death to Israel.’ Yesterday more than one million people turned out in the streets of Iran’s capital Tehran to honour Soleimani, who was the head of the elite Quds Force.