Iran Shuts Down Water Park, Citing Hijab Violations

A police vehicle in front of the water park that was closed in the city of Mashhad on Monday. (Asr Iran)
A police vehicle in front of the water park that was closed in the city of Mashhad on Monday. (Asr Iran)
TT

Iran Shuts Down Water Park, Citing Hijab Violations

A police vehicle in front of the water park that was closed in the city of Mashhad on Monday. (Asr Iran)
A police vehicle in front of the water park that was closed in the city of Mashhad on Monday. (Asr Iran)

Iran has shuttered a water park for allowing women entry without the mandatory headscarf, local media reported on Monday.

"The Mojhaye Khoroushan water park has been closed" since Sunday evening, IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency quoted the complex manager, Mohammad Babaei, as saying.

Babaei said authorities have declared the park's closure due to people's "ignoring chastity and hijab" rules despite regularly warning female visitors to respect the hijab rules.

The Mojhaye Khoroushan complex - which spans 60,000 square meters - is among the largest indoor water parks in the world.

Around 1,000 people working at the park are worried about losing their jobs.

Iran has stepped up security measures in anticipation of renewed protests on Sep. 17 which marks the first anniversary of the anti-regime demonstrations.

The number of women who have chosen not to wear hijab in big cities has increased in the past year, following the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini on Sep. 16 in custody over claims of violating hijab rules.

An Iranian newspaper mentioned that the authorities have closed 77 hotels and tourist centers across the country in the wake of the spread of the phenomenon of removing hijab in public places.

Reformist daily Etemad cited an official from the Iran Tourism Organization as saying that Isfahan witnessed the highest number of tourist centers closed because of the hijab.

Hundreds of people including security forces were killed and 20,000 arrested for participating in what the authorities have described as riots fomented by the West and Israel.



Sri Lanka Train Memorial Honors Tsunami Tragedy

A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Sri Lanka Train Memorial Honors Tsunami Tragedy

A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)
A train “Queen of the Sea” arrives with family members of the victims on-board at a special memorial monument to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, in Peraliya on December 26, 2024. (AFP)

Just inland from the crashing waves on Sri Lanka's palm-fringed shores, the train slowly came to a stop on Thursday -- marking the moment a deadly tsunami hit 20 years ago.

Sri Lanka's Ocean Queen Express became a symbol of the biggest natural disaster to hit the South Asian nation in living memory, when the train was struck by the giant waves of December 26, 2004.

About 1,000 people were killed -- both passengers and local residents, who had clambered inside desperately seeking shelter after the first wave hit.

After they boarded, two bigger waves smashed into the train, ripping it from the tracks and tumbling it onto its side more than 100 meters (330 feet) from the shoreline.

Each year since then, the Ocean Queen has stopped on the tsunami anniversary at the spot in Peraliya, a sleepy village some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the capital Colombo, to commemorate those killed.

"To me, it all brings back the very hard memories," said Tekla Jesenthu, whose two-year-old daughter died as the waves hit the area. "I don't want to think about or talk about it -- it hurts that much."

"Monuments won't bring them back," she added.

- Climbing for survival -

Survivors and relatives of the dead boarded the train in Colombo early in the morning before it headed south with national flags fluttering on its front and then slowed to a creaking halt in commemoration.

Villagers came out, the line was closed and a few moments of quiet settled.

Mourners offered flowers and lit incense at a beachside memorial for 1,270 people buried in mass graves, with Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim ceremonies held.

"When I saw the first wave, I started running away from the waves," said U. A. Kulawathi, 73, a mother whose daughter was killed, her body swept out to sea.

"The water reached the roof levels and people climbed the roofs to save themselves."

The 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island triggered huge waves that swept into coastal areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other nations around the Indian Ocean basin.

A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami according to EM-DAT, a recognized global disaster database. Of those, 35,399 were in Sri Lanka.

Sarani Sudeshika, 36, a baker whose mother-in-law was among those killed, recalled how "animals started making strange noises and people started shouting, saying, 'Sea water is coming'".