On 8 May, reports The Independent, hundreds of Kurds mobbed the Tara Hotel in Mahabad, Iran, and set fire to it over the suspicious death of a Kurdish hotel worker, Farinaz Khosrawani. Ms. Khosrawani, 25 years old, fell or jumped from the fourth floor of the hotel, possibly due to an attack on her person. Al Jazeera says that protesters assert the attack on the woman was an attempted rape by a security guard or a government official, but those charges are unconfirmed.
Twitter feed of the attack shows a significantly large crowd rioting outside the hotel and a major fire that appears to have engulfed the building. Damage looks heavy. A video of the attack posted on The Mirror also shows vandals rummaging through several floors.
Besta News says that riot police deployed and dispersed the crowd with tear gas and live ammunition, which wounded 10. Some accounts say this police action is what prompted the crowd to torch the hotel.
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