Parents Unable to Bury Child's Remains After Iran School Bombing

A school in Minab, Iran, was bombed on February 28, 2026, resulting in 156 deaths, according to a general prosecutor in the area. m. local time, on the first day of strikes by the United States and Israel across Iran. Washington did not claim responsibility for the strike on the elementary school, located next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base in Hormozgan province.

Evidence indicates that U.S. Tomahawk missiles were likely used in the incident, which was reported as the deadliest involving civilians since the war began, per @AJEnglish. A teacher contacted a parent to pick up their child immediately after the initial attack.

A second missile struck minutes later, preventing rescues.

The death toll included 120 students, with 73 boys and 47 girls, as stated by the general prosecutor in a report to state media on April 9, 2026. Other victims comprised 26 teachers, all women, including one who was six months pregnant, seven parents, a school bus driver, and a technician from a nearby clinic.

Forensic experts identified all recovered bodies, many damaged by the blasts, but no remains were found for one 7-year-old boy despite DNA testing. Iran's Legal Medicine Organisation reported that about 40 percent of bodies recovered during the war could not be immediately identified due to damage.

Among 3,375 confirmed deaths since the war started, remains of four people are unidentified, including children under 18.

After nearly seven weeks, authorities informed the boy's family that the search was closed without finding remains. The parents searched the site extensively, from the day of the attack until early the next morning, and returned multiple times. On the 38th day, a relative found a single shoe identified as the boy's, along with a damaged sweater, but nothing else.

The shoe was placed in a box and is now in a local mosque for commemoration. Symbolic belongings of schoolgirls killed in the strike were displayed in Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 22, 2026.