Fire kills dozens in Iranian drug rehab centre

At least 27 people died in a massive fire that broke out at a drug rehabilitation centre in northern Iran, the judiciary has said.

"Twenty-seven have died and 12 others were taken to hospital after a fire erupted at a drug rehabilitation centre in Langarud", a city in Gilan province north of Tehran, said the judiciary's Mizan Online news website, quoting provincial chief justice Esmail Sadeghi early on November 3, TRT World reports.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear but Sadeghi said an investigation "was underway," according to Mizan, which said the centre could accommodate up to 40 people.

Local ISNA news agency shared footage of the fire which lit up the night sky and sent huge plumes of smoke into the air.

Other images showed the heavily damaged site after the fire was contained.

In August, a fire broke out in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, damaging multiple shops but causing no casualties.

In January 2017, a fire at a 15-storey Plasco shopping centre in Tehran, killed at least 22 people, including 16 firefighters.

Iran has one of the severest addiction problems in the world, according to the UN Office of Drugs and Crime.

The country lies on the main trafficking route for poppy, the source of opium and heroin, from Afghanistan to Western Europe.