Bodies Loaded on Carts
Tehran Streets Still Bleeding: Eyewitness Saw 50 Shot Dead in Minutes
A Tehran eyewitness recounts seeing security forces shoot 40 to 50 protesters dead in one street, with blood still visible the next morning and hospitals overwhelmed by hundreds of gunshot victims.
Testimonies from inside Tehran paint a picture of unrestrained violence during the height of the protests on January 9, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Iran, including massive crowds in the capital. One resident who was present on Andarzgu Street around 9:30 p.m. described security forces opening fire directly at people without warning or distinction. "They crushed everyone with bullets. The number of dead on the street was around 40 to 50 people. I saw it with my own eyes, I am ready to swear on my worthless life that 50 meters to 100 meters from me they killed 50 people. I am only saying what I saw myself," he stated.
He named three close friends, Reza Karimi, Mohammad Pishavand, and Nedda Yari, who were all killed that night after living together for seven years. "Please spread their names. Do not let them be taken from us. Do not let them be called Basij or martyrs," he pleaded. He explained that five armed men in full black uniforms fired indiscriminately, and most victims did not even know from which direction the bullets came.
The same witness recounted rushing to collect about 15 bodies right in front of the Andarzgu shopping center and transporting them to Farmanieh Hospital. "That night in the hospital I saw a sight that may never leave my memory: they loaded and transported the bodies on carts, about 200 to 250 shooting victims, most shot in the head and legs, lying on beds with no treatment, completely abandoned." He added that when he left for Karimi Street leading to Andarzgu the next morning at 9:00 a.m., blood was still on the pavement.
A doctor in Borujerd, Lorestan province, described hospitals turning into battle zones. She estimated at least 500 killed in her city alone, a relatively small place with around 230,000 residents. The accounts align with videos showing heavy gunfire in Tehran, leaving large pools of blood on the ground. These testimonies emerge despite near-total internet blackout lasting over 280 hours, making independent verification extremely difficult and underscoring the regime's success in isolating the population while suppressing information flow.