Today in Focus The families torn apart by the Minab school bombing
Apr 3, 2026
Tess McClure, Guardian reporter who did on-the-ground investigations into the Minab school bombing. She recounts ordinary mornings before the strike. She reconstructs timelines and rescue chaos. She describes morgue identifications, satellite and munitions evidence, claims about military targets, misinformation online, and the political and legal fallout.
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Ordinary Ramadan Morning Turned Catastrophic
- A typical Ramadan morning in Minab turned into tragedy when children went to school as usual on Saturday and never returned.
- Tess McClure recounts Zahra, Soban and Hania's routines, hobbies and family life to show how ordinary the day was before the strike.
Children's Final Hours Before School
- Families described the last night and morning: Zahra bunking with her brother and Soban and Hania prepared and excited for school.
- Tess McClure relays specific details like Zahra's science project, her brother Ali guarding supplies, and Hania cleaning her backpack.
Parents' frantic rush to the bombed school
- Parents received frantic calls from teachers to pick up children, then heard explosions and rushed to the school amid gridlocked traffic.
- Tess describes Hussain digging through rubble with his hands and mothers watching children being dug out, some alive but most dead.