Nearly five months after a missile strike devastated the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab, Iran, a teacher named Amaineh recalls the harrowing moments of the attack that killed 120 children and staff. The incident occurred during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Amaineh described a normal school day disrupted by the first explosions of the war. The headteacher decided to close the school and contacted parents to collect their children. Amaineh was in a corridor on the upper floor with five of her 15 first-grade pupils when she heard an explosion nearby. She rushed back to her classroom just as a missile struck the school. "Something hit my head and my students' heads - we were all sent flying," she recounted. Thick black smoke filled the classroom, making it difficult to breathe, and she could not see the children she was holding.
Another explosion followed, accompanied by screams and the sound of children crying. The school then collapsed. "Blood was pouring from me and the students," Amaineh said.
The attack targeted a site adjacent to an IRGC compound, separated by a wall that had been in place since 2016, according to satellite imagery analysis. The full scale of the destruction left the school building in ruins, with parts of walls missing and concrete debris scattered.
Rescuers and families have grieved the loss of young lives. Images show Red Crescent workers at the site, with banners displaying the faces of those killed. In the cemetery, women and girls mourn next to graves adorned with children's photographs.
Amaineh, who is also a mother, continues to grapple with the profound loss, questioning the reason behind the attack on the children. The aftermath of the strike has left deep emotional scars on the community, with grief still palpable nearly five months later.