Workers at the copper smelting plant at Khatunabad near Shahr-e Babak in Kerman province stopped work and held an eight-day sit-in to demand permanent contracts and to protest temporary contracts, layoffs and deferred pay and benefits. Special police sent to break up the sit-in opened fire on 24 January 2004, killing four workers and injuring dozens; protests and shop closures spread through Shahr-e Babak the next day.