Family of Iranian butcher missing in strike on commercial complex clings to hope

• Summary

• Neighbors say complex was struck twice within seconds

• Iranian Red Crescent says over 80,000 civilian structures bombed since war’s start

• Missing butcher’s family holding out hope for his survival

TEHRAN, March 21 (Reuters) - For 20 years ​he had been an assistant butcher, but about a year ago Mahdi Mirzahosseini finally started up ‌his own shop – one his family said he insisted on opening to serve customers for the Persian new year.

He has not been seen since that shop was destroyed on Monday in what neighbors said was a double strike on a complex that included homes, stores and a ​ground-floor laundry. Every day since, two of the 41-year-old’s elder brothers have come to search for him.

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So far, ​they told Reuters on Saturday, they have found only his car key and jacket, despite a ⁠tractor and recovery teams continuously searching the site. He is the only person still missing, the family said.

The bodies of ​six people who died there on Monday have been recovered, along with 18 survivors, according to rescue workers. A neighbor and ​a rescue worker said the complex had no military links and was struck twice within seconds a bit after noon.

The complex was one of over 80,000 civilian structures bombed in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran during the three-week-old war, said Pir-Hossein Kolivand, president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

Kolivand ​said strikes have also damaged nearly 500 schools and 266 medical facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. Reuters could not ​independently verify his toll or the circumstances of the strike on the commercial complex.

“The number of attacks on residential and civilian areas is ‌increasing,” ⁠he said. Israel and the United States say they do not target civilians.

Where the commercial complex once stood, a wide crater was still surrounded six days later by mountains of rubble. Nearby, shreds of blackened clothing hung from a leafless tree.

Amir Saeed-Jamshidi, a Red Crescent first responder, said his team rushed to the site minutes after the explosions and found a ​mountain of rubble and fire. He ​said residents told them ⁠people trapped under the rubble were phoning for help.

Saeed-Jamshidi said the team dug two tunnels to reach survivors, including some trapped deep in an underground garage.

The surrounding buildings were all ​damaged in the shockwave, and one had its windows completely blown out.

Mirzahosseini, the youngest of ​seven siblings, closed ⁠for the first two weeks of the war but customers asked about buying meat and chicken for the holidays, said his brother Hamid, adding that their mother had pleaded with him to stay home.

“Customers are calling. I have to go do my work," ⁠was Mirzahosseini’s response, ​according to his brother.

The family of the missing man still has hope.

“God willing ​we will find him safe,” said another brother, Khalil, standing near where the butcher shop used to be and holding his own infant. “There is no ​trace of him.”

Reporting by Maggie Michael, Alaa Al Marjani and Haidar Khadhim in Tehran. Edited by Lori Hinnant and Nia Williams

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