TEHRAN -- Ali Landi, an Iranian teenager who became a national hero after rescuing two women from fire, has passed away due to severe burns.
Earlier this month, Ali, a 15-year-old boy from Izeh city in Khuzestan Province, rushed to rescue two neighboring women trapped in a burning house, Press TV reported on Friday.
After the incident, which occurred on September 9, Ali was hospitalized in Taleqani Hospital in Ahvaz with third-degree burns, affecting some 90% of his body.
He was later transferred to Imam Musa Kazim Hospital in the city of Isfahan.
However, after days of intensive care in the hospital, he took his last breath in the early hours of Friday morning.
Ever since the news of Ali’s heroic self-sacrifice broke out, many provincial and national officials had lined up to laud him for his courageous act.
Alireza Kazemi, caretaker of the Education Ministry, praised Ali as a “great hero” and the teacher of the younger generations in Iran.
On Friday, many Iranian users revered Ali on social media as a martyr and a role model.
Some pointed to the concurrence of his demise and the anniversary of the beginning of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran, drawing a comparison between Ali and the teenagers who rushed to defend their homeland during the 8-year war.
In a message on Friday morning, Iran’s First Vice President Muhammad Mokhber offered his condolences to Ali’s bereaved family, relatives, friends, and all the Iranian people, especially the people of Izeh.
“Although this dear teenager’s rise to heaven causes deep grief and sorrow, his selfless action set an ever-lasting example for all those who strive to spread and deepen the culture of self-sacrifice and selflessness,” Mokhber wrote.