Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Blazing high-rise CRASHES in Tehran

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More than 20 firefighters dead as Iran’s oldest high-rise building collapses after fire engulfs its top floors


TEHRAN: Tehran’s mayor said more than 20 firefighters had been killed when the city’s oldest high-rise collapsed following a fire on Thursday.


“So far, more than 20 of our colleagues in the fire brigade have lost their lives rescuing others,” mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Iranian state television.


Fire brigade spokesman Jalal Maleki said he could not confirm the 20 deaths, and they were still being treated officially as missing since no bodies had yet been pulled from the rubble.


Rescue workers, soldiers and sniffer dogs were desperately hunting for survivors in the debris of the 15-storey Plasco building, which contained a shopping centre and hundreds of clothing suppliers.


Some 78 people — mostly firefighters — were injured as they rushed to evacuate the building, the head of Tehran’s emergency services told state television, and six were still in hospital by late evening.


Dramatic images showed flames pouring out of the top floors of the building, which collapsed shortly before midday after a four-hour blaze.


Around 200 firefighters had been tackling the blaze at the Plasco building, which dated from the 1960s.


“I was inside and suddenly I felt the building is shaking and is about to collapse.


As we gathered colleagues and got out, a minute later the building collapsed,” said Ali, a firefighter at the scene.


Local media said the workshops were especially full of clothes in the build-up to Nowruz, the Iranian New Year which falls in March.


President Hassan Rouhani demanded an immediate investigation, calling the incident “unfortunate and sorrowful”.


— AFP


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