Four prisoners were killed in a massive fire at a notorious prison that houses political prisoners and anti-government activists in the Iranian capital, according to the country’s judiciary announced on Sunday. The dramatic scenes of the nighttime fire echoed across Iranian social media, with flames and thick smoke rising widely from Evin Prison in Tehran on Saturday evening, and anti-government protests across the country, sparked by the death of a young woman in police custody, entered their fifth week. As in videos online, gunshots and explosions were heard near the prison area. Authorities tried to distance the prison events from the ongoing protests, while state media provided conflicting accounts of the violence and the detention of hundreds at Evin, where human rights groups have reported repeated abuses of prisoners. Later, families of prisoners gathered on Sunday near the prison hoping for news of their loved ones inside. Masoumeh (49 years old), who only gave her first name, said her 19-year-old son was transferred to the prison two weeks ago after participating in street protests, adding, “I cannot trust the news about his health, I need to see him up close.” Also, another man named Reza, who only mentioned his first name, said his brother has been at Evin Prison since last year after being involved in a violent fight and said: “He has not contacted us in recent days and after last night’s fire I am here to find out what happened to him.” In the same context, official media initially reported nine people injured, but Mizan website, affiliated with the judiciary, said on Sunday that four inmates died from smoke inhalation and 61 others were injured, also stating that the four who died were in prison on theft charges. Likewise, Mizan reported that ten inmates were transferred to hospital, four of them in serious condition. It added that some prisoners tried to escape but failed. Official television on Sunday broadcast a video claiming to show burn marks on the walls and ceilings of a room said to be the upper floor of a sewing workshop in the prison. Tehran governor Mohsen Mansouri said, "This fire resulted from a fight between some prisoners in the sewing workshop."