Two dead after Iran stadium collapse

Three fans lie on the field after being injured when scaffolding collapsed Sunday at Mottaqi Stadium in Sari, Iran

SARI, Iran (CNN) -- Hospital officials in Sari, Iran, said two people died and 143 remained hospitalized Monday, a day after scaffolding at a stadium collapsed during a soccer match, hurling spectators to the ground.

The number of deaths was in dispute. One witness told CNN he saw many bodies in the hospital corridor. And a reporter for Iranian radio said he counted at least five dead at the stadium.

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Dozens of other people were treated and released from area hospitals.

Overnight, demonstrators angry over the disaster and blaming stadium officials set cars afire and broke windows.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Soccer Federation sent a committee, headed by federation secretary Ali Akbar Erfanian Daneshvar, to Sari to investigate the accident at Mottaqi Stadium.

Sari is the capital of Mazandaran province, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Tehran.

The soccer match, between Tehran's Persepillus club and the local Sari club Shamushak, drew an unusually large number of spectators. More than 25,000 people had been inside the stadium, which has a capacity of 15,000.

The scaffold, holding temporary seating, collapsed at 4:30 p.m. With the Sari club holding a 2-0 lead at halftime, the match did not resume.

Observers said the stadium overcrowding slowed the arrival of medical help.

Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report from Tehran.

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