Guests recall horror of US bombing that killed five in Iran

Guests recall horror of US bombing that killed five in Iran

Women and children had gathered at a family home in Kuhestak, a coastal town in southern Iran, waiting for the bride and groom to arrive for a wedding celebration when an explosion tore through the house on Tuesday evening, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Days after the incident, wedding guests recalled the chaos and fear that followed the blast. The explosion came during a US bombardment of southern Iran. Four people were killed at the scene, while a fifth victim, a 22-year-old woman who was critically wounded, died in hospital two days later, bringing the death toll to five, according to Drop Site News. At least 60 people were wounded.

Speaking to US media outlet Drop Site News, wedding guest Zeinab Mallahi, who was at the house when the blast struck, recalled the moment the building collapsed. “I still hear the voices of the women who were ululating, and then suddenly the roof of the living room and the walls came down on us,” Mallahi told Drop Site News. “That sound follows me from night into day and from day into night.”

According to AP, roughly 150 women were gathered at the house, while men attending the wedding were celebrating separately in another building about 50 metres away. The bride and groom had not yet arrived when the strike hit the room where the women were due to be served dinner.

Ali Mallahi told AP that the blast left a gaping hole in the roof, shattered windows and cracked walls. Debris, household appliances and sections of roofing were scattered across the compound. Sasan Zarei, a neighbour who rushed to the scene, told AP: “Most of the injured were kids. The scenes were very heartbreaking.”

Mallahi, the bride’s father, told Drop Site News that around 350 people had gathered for the wedding. “I really don’t know what to say,” he said. “This happened in a completely residential area. There were no military facilities around the house.”

He said he initially thought a gas cylinder had exploded before hearing further blasts. “For a moment I just froze. I didn’t know what had happened,” Mallahi said. “I asked myself, did they really fire a missile at my house? What happened to my daughter’s wedding? What happened to my guests? My children, my wife, everyone?”

US vice president JD Vance said Thursday that the incident was being investigated. “We’re investigating it very fully,” he said, adding that the US “never targets civilians in combat” but that “sometimes things happen”.

A Reuters investigation found that the wedding bombing was likely a direct hit by a US munition rather than a ricochet from another target. After the strike, bloody shoes and wedding decorations lay scattered among the rubble, another eyewitness told Reuters, “Kuhestak is destroyed. Four, five, ten houses were destroyed. God help us.”

Mostafa Taheri, a Red Crescent emergency worker, told Drop Site News that multiple wedding guests were still trapped under the rubble when rescuers arrived, while others had been injured by shrapnel. “It was the first time I had encountered such a scene,” Taheri said. “We could hear the wounded screaming. We immediately started finding people, moving the rubble and transferring the injured.”

Kuhestak lies about 30 km from Minab, where more than 100 children were killed in a US missile strike on a primary school on February 28, the opening day of the war launched by the US and Israel.