God, this is complicated. Top-level comment of where I wanted to micro-update got deleted.

So, it will be here. Though, I don’t think there will be much more to say.

earlier update

source

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Vall said of the attack on the girls’ school, “There are new reports confirming the number of people killed in that strike has now gone above 40. […]”

Recent updates

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A staff member at the Minab school, who asked not to be named, told Middle East Eye she remains in shock at the intensity of the attack.

Through tears, she said she used to watch the young girls playing at school every day. After today’s strikes, however, she saw their bodies lying on classroom benches and in different corners of the school.

Pinging @diplomjodler3@lemmy.world FYI

source

Death toll rises to 85, according to Iranian judiciary.

At least 85 people, almost all of them young girls, have been killed in an air strike on a primary school in southern Iran, the Iranian judiciary said.

Also,

There were 170 female students at the school at the time of the attack. So far, at least 45 people have also been reported wounded.

The victims were between seven and 12 years old, according to Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies.

UTC: 17:29 update

source

Capt Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, said he was “aware of reports” that a girls’ school was struck and they were looking into them.

UTC: 18:15 update

Video circulating on social media of the site post-impact. I can’t verify the authenticity of this.

UTC: 19:43 update

The Guardian published an article with more information on this at 18.28 GMT.

Persian factchecking service Factnameh was able to cross-reference the video with other photographs of the school site, and concluded that the video was authentic. Reuters said it had also verified the footage as being from the school.

The school appears to be adjacent to a Revolutionary Guards barracks. If the death toll is confirmed, the school bombing would be the largest mass casualty event of the US-led attack so far.

UTC: 20:29 update

Here’s a imginn.com frontend link to the instagram post by Persian factchecking service Factnameh. It’s a mini presentation about the event.

Also

Middle East Eye has a more complete article now.

After hearing the blast, she [staff at the school MEE says they interviewed] ran back towards the school and was faced with a scene she says she would never forget.

“I felt like I had gone mute. I couldn’t speak,” the staff member told MEE. “You could hear the sound of children crying and screaming.”

When rescue teams arrived, she said, they began to understand the scale of the disaster.

“We still don’t know how many are under the rubble. Some are even saying more than 100. Some of these small children are severely injured. Their parents have come to the school, and this place has turned into a house of mourning.”

The air strike on the school left many inside the building trapped beneath the rubble.

There were 170 female students at the school at the time of the attack. So far, at least 45 people have also been reported wounded.

Footage posted by Telegram accounts affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps appeared to show people digging through the rubble.

Smoke could be seen rising from surrounding buildings, while a wrecked car lay in the street. People were heard screaming and wailing; others appeared to be in shock.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denounced the attack on X and said the deaths of the children would “not go unanswered”.

“The destroyed building is a primary school for girls in the south of Iran. It was bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils,” he wrote.

“Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone.”

UTC: 21:38 ending updates