The death toll from the partial collapse of a building under construction in Abadan, southwestern Iran, on Monday rose to 10 on Tuesday as rescue work continued to save people trapped in the rubble.
“Unfortunately, the number of people killed in this accident so far has reached 10,” Iranian Red Crescent Organization chairman Mehdi Valipour told local media.
Rescue work continued throughout the night, with three more bodies recovered in the last few hours from the ten-story building in Abadan, Khuzestan province.
Until now, 32 people were rescued alive from the rubble and the number of injured is 35. Authorities believe dozens of people are still under arrest.
More than 100 firefighters are involved in the rescue work, which involves heavy machinery.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi, visiting Oman, ordered firefighters to “immediately send rescue forces and the necessary equipment to remove the debris” in Abadan, the official IRNA agency reported.
“Around 40% of the building was destroyed and is in danger of collapsing completely,” warned the city’s governor, Ehsan Abbaspur, ordering the evacuation of neighboring buildings, very close.
The authorities Six people were arrested for the collapse.among them the contractor who supervised the works, the owner of the building and the inspectors of the city of some 230 thousand inhabitants.
An investigation was opened to determine the causes of the accident.
The property is located on the “busiest central street in the city”, where the surrounding buildings are mainly occupied by “commercial, medical” activities or housing “offices”, as was expected to be the case of the building that collapsed, he indicated. The television.
In early 2017, the Plasco building, a 15-story shopping mall dating from the early 1960s, collapsed in central Tehran as firefighters had been battling a fire for hours and evacuating occupants.
According to the official balance, 22 people – including 16 firefighters – died in this tragedy, which caused damage worth 15,000 million riyals (365 million euros) and left 3,500 people unemployed.
Source: Observadora
